Changes In The Air
by LilyGhost
Summary: Things are changing in Stephanie and Ranger's relationship and Stephanie's surprised to find that she's more than ready for them. Story five in a five part series and is set after Gotcha. This is an established Ranger/Stephanie relationship story.
1. Chapter 1

**This is a continuation of Ranger and Stephanie's relationship from my four other stories that started with Come Someday. I was planning to wait until Gotcha was complete before posting this one, but I consider this a stand-alone story, and anyone who has read my stories know that Ranger and Stephanie always end up together, so I didn't think anyone would mind if I didn't wait. I have six chapters so far for this story and I plan on adding on to it, as well as updating a few of my other stories, as soon as possible. The Highlawn Pavilian is a real restaurant. I've only seen it online, so I used my imagination to fill in what their website didn't show. All familiar places, phrases, and characters belong to Janet Evanovich. The mistakes are mine. Warnings for mild language and smut.**

I was sitting across from Ranger at his little kitchen table. I hadn't seen a whole lot of him today. And the few times that I did see him, he seemed to have been unusually quiet. Ranger is a man of few words normally, but today was different. He seemed ... distracted.

"Is everything okay?" I asked him.

"Why wouldn't they be?"

"I'm not sure."

Ranger had gotten up early and, after showering and eating breakfast, spent most of the day holed up his office. It's not that I needed company all the time, but I had to admit that I'd felt a tad lonely. And worse than feeling lonely, I'd had most of the day to think. Which, in my case, was never a good thing. My brain was now clogged with questions that I wasn't sure I wanted the answers to. What if Ranger wanted out of the relationship? What if he was tired of our semi-domestic lifestyle and wanted his own space back? What if he wanted to go back to his Man of Mystery days? Not that Ranger wasn't still mysterious. But at least _now_ I knew where he was the majority of the time.

I gave my head a slight shake and tried to push the doubts away. Get a grip, Stephanie. Could be he just had some work to finish. Or maybe he'd spent the day zeroing in on a skip ...

"I had Tank make us dinner reservations for tonight," Ranger said, breaking into my thoughts."I thought we could use a night out."

My heart suddenly felt leaden in my chest. Well Stephanie, I thought to myself, what did you expect? You knew this moment was coming so why are you so surprised? I guess I was hoping that I was just imagining things. Even when things were going good, I knew somewhere in the back of my mind that the other shoe was going to drop. But over the last couple of months, I had let my guard down. And now that shoe had just dropped. Hard. And my mind was reeling.

"Sure," I squeaked out. See, if we were a normal couple dinner out would be something to look forward to. But Ranger's usually so busy that he doesn't have a lot of free time. And the time he did have, we used for more enjoyable activities. So an unexpected dinner out was unsettling. Especially after he'd been acting strange. Not to mention that I'd just about convinced myself that our relationship was over.

"I still have some things to finish up, but I should be done by five."

"Okay by me," I said, feeling anything but okay.

We'd finished the lunch Ella had brought up, and I was just stalling over coffee. I wasn't in a hurry for lunch to end. And I certainly wasn't in any hurry to go out tonight, but I knew there would be no putting it off.

Ranger must have read my thoughts, because he pushed back from the table, stood, and looked down at me.

"Are you staying in the building today?" He asked.

I blew out a sigh."I should probably go to the office and check in with Connie."

Ranger locked eyes with me."If you need help capturing someone, call the control room. Tank or Hal will go with you."

At least he still cares about my safety, I thought, that's something, right?

"Not necessary," I told him."Lula will be able to go with me."

"Babe, it _is_ necessary," Ranger said."Lula can't hit a target two inches in front of her. Do you honestly think that she could protect you from someone who wanted to do some damage."

Okay, that might be true but ..."She would try," I said, feeling the need to defend Lula. After all, she is my partner in crime. And Lula _does_ try to protect me. Unfortunately, it's in her own way. Which, more often than not, ends up with me, alone, talking to the police and Lula long gone.

"That makes me feel so much better," Ranger said."Call the control room."

"I'll call, okay, but I'm telling Lula that you don't trust her."

"Is that supposed to scare me?"

"Yes." Lula was almost as scary as Ranger when she got worked up, just in a different way.

Ranger kissed the top of my head."I'm heading back to work. I'll see you later."

I pushed myself out of the chair and made my way to the front door. I dug my car keys out of my bag before hiking it up onto my shoulder and hitting the elevator.

Ten minutes later, I was walking into the bonds office.

"What's wrong with your face?" Lula asked."Death row inmates look happier than you."

"Ranger wants to go out to dinner tonight?"

"And that's what put that look on your face?" Lula asked."Hell, he ask me, I'd probably faint dead away right after wetting my pants."

"I think Ranger might dump me tonight," I said, my voice sounding a little wobbly.

"That's the dumbest thing I ever heard," Lula said."I've seen the way Ranger looks at you. And it ain't the look of a man who's wanting to be rid of you. Heck, Ranger don't even let you come here without some sort of tracking thingy on you."

"That's different," I said to her."That's about my safety. You know, trying to keep me from getting injured on the job."

"Uh-huh," Lula said."I'm sure that's what it is."

"Lula's right," Connie said."Anyone within a five mile radius of the two of you together are in danger of getting hot flashes."

True. The chemistry between us hasn't changed, but something had. I just wasn't sure what it was.

"You know what your problem is? You like to borrow trouble," Lula said to me."Here you are sleeping with the finest man on earth. You're one suitcase away from living with him. And you have your pick of expensive cars. Not to mention, Ranger's threatened to shoot any Rangeman goon that lets anything happen to you. What the hecks to be so worried about?"

That it all could end, I thought. Not so much the cars and the apartment, although those were nice, too. But the friendship, the love, and the caring parts of what we have.

"Ranger knows that if the two of you are no longer together Morelli might want to pick up where the two of you left off," Connie said."And Ranger isn't about to let that happen."

I wish I could be as sure as Connie and Lula.

"You know what you need?" Lula asked."You need to go shopping. You need to find something to wear tonight that will make you feel sexy. And that'll no doubt make Ranger stand up and take notice, if you know what I'm saying."

I knew what she was saying, and it didn't sound like a bad idea.

I turned to Connie."Do you need me for anything?"

"Nope," Connie said."It's been slow around here."

If I hadn't been mostly staying in Ranger's apartment, this would have worried me. Since capturing skips is the only way I'm able to pay my rent. No skips equals no rent money. Depending on tonight, though, maybe I _should_ be worried.

"Okay," I said to Lula."Let's roll. I could use some retail therapy."

I let myself into Ranger's apartment three hours later with my arms full of bags. I poked my head into the kitchen, and checked out the office on my way into the bedroom. No Ranger. I'd seen all his cars parked in the Rangeman garage when I pulled in, so probably he was downstairs on the fifth floor. Good deal. Now Ranger would get the full impact of all my hard work.

I took a fast shower that left me a little over an hour and a half to get ready. If I was quick I could pull it off.

Ranger was standing at the kitchen counter when I came back into the kitchen. His eyes went immediately to me as I walked towards him. So what if I added a little more hip sway than usual as I walked. I knew I looked hot. I snuck a glance at Ranger and I was right. The chemistry definitely hadn't changed.

Ranger's attention focused on the top of my dress, and slowly moved down my body to the hem that hit about six inches above my knee.

"Looking good, Babe." Ranger said, after a few heated moments.

I was wearing a black satin tiered dress with a few well placed sequined inserts. It was strapless, the fit snug to my body, and I had plenty of leg on display. I'd decided that if tonight was the night Ranger called it quits, then I was going to look really sexy so he'd think twice about what he'd be giving up. On my feet were four-inch slingback heels made from glittery fabric. I'm not usually the sparkly-shoe type, but they worked perfectly with the dress. And since I wasn't wearing any jewelry aside from fake diamond studs in my ears, Lula thought I could use something blingy to help with my confidence. The small black clutch I was holding was large enough to hold lipstick, and the cell phone Lula insisted I take. She wanted to know the outcome of dinner as soon as she possibly could. And I figured I may need a sympathetic ear afterward, so I had agreed. My hair was done up in a deceptively casual style that looked like it took a minute to do, but in reality had taken over thirty minutes. I was as prepared as I was going to get.

"You clean up pretty good yourself," I said, checking him out.

Ranger had dressed up for the evening, too. The black dress pants and black button down dress shirt wouldn't seem especially dressy on a normal guy. But the clothes, combined with Ranger's good looks, were all that were needed to make Ranger look like a walking Cuban fantasy. If tonight hadn't seemed so important, I may have attacked him. He must have changed clothes before going downstairs, because I'd been back and forth from the bedroom to the bathroom for the last two hours and I would definitely have noticed if he'd been in there with me.

"So," I asked,"where are we going."

"A restaurant in West Orange."

"Why so far away?"

"It's a good restaurant," Ranger said.

Umm-hmm. Going out of town is also a good way to avoid Burg gossips, I thought, as we walked to the front door.

We didn't say much on the elevator ride down to the garage. Again, normal for Ranger not so normal for me. I was in a state.

He opened the passengers door for me, and waited while I slid into the cushy leather seat. If I hadn't been so distracted I would have noticed that he took the time to fully appreciate my little skirt that had ridden up higher on my legs as I sat down. He closed my door and got behind the wheel.

On the drive to the restaurant, I didn't pay any attention to the scenery that was flying by. And I didn't try to make small talk. I was focusing all my energy on not making a fool out of myself.

The restaurant came into view all to soon, and I mentally braced myself for the night ahead.

The Highlawn Pavilion was a beautiful turn of the century Florentine-style building. The restaurant was beyond elegant, but it gave off such an old world charm that I forgot to be intimidated by it. Driving up I saw the lights of Manhattan off in the distance and the view was breathtaking. I'd like to think I wasn't easily swayed by expensive things, but I had to admit that I was impressed.

I was still taking in the restaurant when Ranger pulled up to the front of the building. He handed the keys to the Turbo over to the valet, and opened the door for me. I slid out and shimmied the dress back down my legs. With his hand at the small of my back, Ranger escorted me inside.

I looked around the huge dining room and didn't see any other people inside of it except for the staff and us.

"You reserved the entire dining room just for dinner?" I asked, as realization dawned on me.

"Yes," Ranger said. He had moved his hand to my hip as he ushered me to our table."I didn't want to share you tonight, Babe."

Well, that sounded promising. Maybe I_ was _reading to much into his odd behavior. Probably this was just going to be a nice dinner out. It could be that I was just blowing things all out of proportion. Again.

Ranger pulled my chair out for me."And it's not just dinner."

Shit. Now I was right back to worrying about getting dumped again. Ranger was getting to be hell on my nerves.

"What do you mean this isn't just dinner?"

A waitress arrived at our table. She managed to tell Ranger that everything was ready, and pour us each a glass of wine, in between blushing and stammering. Ranger had that effect on women.

"What's ready?" I asked.

Ranger waited until the waitress left before speaking. He picked up my hand and locked eyes with me."I've been thinking about making some changes ..." Ranger began.

"Am I one of those changes?" I couldn't wait for Ranger to finish. I had to know _now_. I couldn't take much more.

"Yes." Ranger said.

I closed my eyes for a moment. Breathe, Stephanie, I thought. You can get through this. You've been shot at, not to mention _actually_ shot, multiple times. You've survived living with your parents on more than one occasion. And the 7-11, stocked with every type of candy bar I could possibly want, was open twenty-four hours a day. You can do this!

I opened my eyes, and stared blankly at Ranger as the last two words of what he had asked registered in my confused brain.

"What did you just say?" Not trusting my ears.

"I asked you to marry me, Steph."

I felt my mouth drop open. And it stayed that way until Ranger reached over and gently closed it with his fingertip.

"Babe," Ranger said,"say something."

"That's not funny," I said to him. I couldn't keep the hurt out of my voice.

"Wasn't meant to be."

The hurt quickly turned into anger when an unpleasant thought popped into my head.

"Did one of the guys put you up to this?" I loved the guys at Rangeman, but they've been known to have a nasty sense of humor.

"No."

"Lula?"

"No."

"You're serious?" I asked.

"Don't I look serious?" He asked me.

Okay, here's the thing, Ranger _always_ looked serious. I could never tell when he was kidding or when he was being serious.

"You're asking me to believe that you really want to marry me?"

"Yes," he said, his mouth curling up at the corners at the expression on my face."I really do want to marry you."

I still couldn't quite comprehend what was going on. And my mouth wasn't totally in cooperation with my brain."What happened to ..._this is the kind of love that doesn't call for a ring? _I remember you telling me that more than once."

"I changed my mind."

"You never change your mind," I said, still confused."You _are_ kidding, aren't you?"

"No, Steph," Ranger said. He still had hold of my hand and he slid a three carat, cushion-cut, diamond pave ring onto my finger."And since you won't answer my question, I'm going to assume it's a yes."

Way to ruin a moment, Stephanie, I said to myself. You didn't even give him an answer.

"O-o-f course it's a yes," I said."If you're sure?"

Ranger raised my hand to his lips and kissed it before placing it back on the table."I'm sure."

This didn't feel real. I felt like I was watching a movie. I was _engaged_ to _Ranger?! _I _never _thought that this would happen. We'd been mostly living together for a while, but I didn't think he'd actually want to take the step to make it legal.

My brain was still a little fuzzy and I don't remember exactly what we ate for dinner. I assumed we'd be leaving shortly, since Ranger didn't do dessert, but after a few minutes our waitress came back carrying an over-sized martini glass filled with mouthwatering tiramisu. There was also a waiter right behind her with a bottle of champagne and two glasses. I shot Ranger a look.

"_You're _going to eat sugar?" I asked, after the champagne was poured and we were alone again. He must have remembered how much I enjoyed the tiramisu from Rossini's that time we ate there together. Or Ranger just knew me well enough to know that I loved desserts of any kind.

"No," Ranger said, smiling."You are."

He picked up the spoon and fed me a bite of it. I've had countless fantasies of Ranger and dessert over the years. Never once did I think one would come true. He was pulling out all the stops tonight, I thought to myself, an engagement ring_ and _orgasmic tiramisu. If I'd of said no to the ring, the dessert would have made me change my mind.

"You're sure you don't want any of this?" I asked, licking some cream off of the spoon."You don't know what you're missing."

"I won't be missing anything," Ranger said, watching my lips."I'll havemy_ dessert _at home."

And, just like that, I got a flash that went from my toes all the way to the roots of my hair.

"And when will that be?" I asked Ranger. Thinking _home_ sounded like a good idea.

"As soon as you're done."

"I'm done."

Ranger looked down at the still half-full dish in front of me."Babe, you never pass up dessert."

He was right. I never pass up anything sugary or fattening if I could help it. But I've since learned that there are a few things in the world that could rival it. Ranger being one of them.

"Tonight's the exception," I told him.

"Works for me," Ranger said.

He stood and pulled my chair back for me. His hand went to my waist as he guided me out of the restaurant. Since nobody came running after us for not paying, I assumed the bill had been taken care of in advance. When the valet brought the Turbo back, Ranger opened the car door for me and dropped a kiss on my mouth before angling behind the wheel.

I dug my cell phone out of my bag and Ranger looked over at me.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Calling Lula," I said."I sort of told her that I was worried you were going to break things off with me tonight. Lula thought I was acting crazy, and wanted me to call her afterward so she could say,_ I told you so."_

"Why would you think that I wanted to end things?" Ranger asked.

"You've been quieter than usual," I said to him."And things have been so good between us, that I guess I just assumed it was about to end."

"That's not going to happen, Steph," Ranger said, smiling."I'm stuck with you for the long haul."

That's not what I wanted to here. I narrowed my eyes at him."It could be the other way around, you know. Maybe _I'm_ the one stuck with _you_." Not likely, but I had to say _something_.

Ranger's smiled widened."How about we just agree that we're stuck with each other for the duration."

Okay, I could live with that.

I flipped my phone open and dialed Lula. She answered on the first ring.

"Are you okay?" She asked."You need me to come over? I got cake. I got three different types of chips. And I got _lots_ of booze. Where are you? You at your apartment? I can be there in ten minutes."

For someone who'd insisted Ranger wasn't going to dump me, she sure had been prepared if he had.

I looked down at the huge diamond on my finger."Things didn't go quite the way I had thought," I told her.

"What does that mean?"

"I'll tell you and Connie first thing tomorrow morning."

"Where are you now?" Lula asked.

"I'm on my way back to Rangeman."

"Damn," Lula said."You had me worried there for a minute. I guess I'll have to take care of the food and booze by myself then seeing as how you won't be needin' it."

I dropped the phone back in my bag. Lula was always willing to sacrifice herself for the greater good.

Ranger stopped at a red light. He reached over and trailed his fingertips along my thigh.

"Did I mention that I like this dress you're wearing?" He asked.

"You did say something about me looking good tonight," I told him."I think you liking the dress was implied."

His fingers were slowly inching higher. If the light didn't change soon, I might be looking at an indecent exposure charge.

Luckily, the light did change. Ranger took his hand off my leg and resumed driving.

"Tease," I said to him.

"Babe, you don't know the half of it."

Uh-oh.

Ranger turned down Haywood Street, fobbed his way into the Rangeman underground garage, and parked in the space closest to the elevator. He came around to my side of the car, wrapped his arm around my waist, and moved me toward the elevator.

"Do the guys know about this?" I asked Ranger when the doors closed.

"Just Tank and Ella."

WelI, now was as good a time as any, I thought. And I flashed the ring towards the mini-cam.

Ranger gave his head an almost imperceptible shake."I'm never going to hear the end of this," Ranger said.

"Hey, you're the one who proposed," I told him."It must have occurred to you what would happen when everyone found out. And this will be nothing compared to what will happen when my mother and grandmother find out." I could only imagine what the guys in the control room were saying now.

"What about your family?" I asked him.

"They've been told."

"Pretty sure of yourself, aren't you?"

"Always."

"And Julie?" I asked.

"Julie, too," Ranger said."She was happy about it."

Julie and I being held hostage together kind of broke the ice in our relationship. That took a moment to sink in. I was going to be a stepmother. Sort of, anyway.

When the elevator stopped on seven, Ranger unlocked the front door, and followed me in. Something was definitely going on. I walked to the kitchen and noticed the candles lit in the dining room and more champagne. I was guessing this was Ella's handiwork.

"I was going to ask you when we got home," Ranger said,"but you looked so nervous that I decided to put you out of your misery."

"Jeez," I said to him,"that's romantic."

Ranger smiled at me."Yeah. I'm a romantic guy."

I rolled my eyes at him and dropped my little clutch on the kitchen counter. Ranger came up silently behind me and stood pressed against my back. His lips taking full advantage of the fact that my neck and shoulders were bare.

"What are you doing?" I asked him, my brain starting to get a little fuzzy.

He touched his tongue to the pulse point in my neck, then pressed his lips to the same spot, asserting just enough pressure to make my pulse triple."You mentioned something about dessert," Ranger said."And you look good enough to eat."

A wave of heat rushed straight to my doodah at the thought. I wasn't sure if my body was up for anymore excitement tonight.

Ranger turned me in his arms, his fingers toying with the zipper at the back of my dress. And my body changed it's mind about the excitement. It was more than ready for anything Ranger wanted to dish out.

"What about the champagne," I asked him. Not that I needed any. Between the wine at dinner, the tiramisu, and the feel of Ranger's lips on me, I was already feeling more than a little tipsy.

Ranger's mouth moved to my ear."Later," he whispered.

A felt a little shiver of anticipation at the sound of that.

"When I first saw that ring in the store," Ranger whispered against my ear."My thoughts immediately went to what it would look like with you wearing it ... and nothing else." His breath was warm, and the feel of it against my ear was causing goosebumps to break out all over my skin.

His eyes caught mine, and we stood looking at each other for a long moment before Ranger picked me up and carried me to the bedroom. When all that I was left wearing _was_ his engagement ring, Ranger quickly shed his clothes. I felt myself sink into the mattress as Ranger moved over me. He ran his fingers through my curls as he lowered his mouth to mine. When our tongues touched, Ranger angled my head for better access. Desire shot through me like a freight train. My fingers dug into his back as he broke away from my mouth and started kissing his way down my neck. I felt his tongue at my breast, spending considerable at my nipples, before moving on to my navel, my belly. I held my breath and fisted my hands into the sheets when I felt Ranger's breath against me, followed by his mouth. When my vision started to clear, I focused on Ranger. He was resting his chin on my lower abdomen, breathing a little heavily himself, looking up at me.

I took a few deep breaths."You should be illegal," I told him.

Ranger pressed another kiss to my navel, then slid up next to me on the bed."Are you complaining," he asked, his mouth brushing mine.

"No," I said."Not even a little."

"Good," Ranger said, his voice a whisper against my ear."Because I'm not even close to being done."

Oh boy. OH BOY!

By the time we were finished, the small of Ranger's back was slick with sweat and my hair was plastered against my damp face. Ranger rolled me on top of him and pulled the covers over us. I snuggled my face into his neck, closed my eyes, and instantly fell asleep.

I was looking down at my ring the next morning."What am I supposed to do with this?" I asked Ranger, who was sipping coffee across from me.

"What do you mean?"

"The ring. As much as I'd like to, I can't wear this when I'm working."

"Why not?" Ranger asked.

My eyes opened wide."Why not? First off, I don't want it to get full of whatever I end up rolling around in ..."

"It can be cleaned," Ranger said.

I rolled my eyes at him."Secondly, I'd be afraid someone would steal it."

"I'll be able to find it."

It took a few seconds for me to process that. I looked more closely at the ring before catching Ranger's eye.

"You've got to be kidding me," I said."You put a tracking device in my ring?"

"Something like that."

"Why?" As if I couldn't guess.

"For the reason you just mentioned," Ranger said, calmly."And if someone ever takes you again, it'll be one more way to locate you."

Okay, that sounded more like a safety issue rather than a privacy issue. I could live with that.

"Unless whoever steals me decides to take the ring off and hock it."

"The ring stays on. Wouldn't want Morelli to think that there was trouble and try anything," Ranger said, his mouth turning up slightly in a smile.

"This is about Morelli?" Like he had to worry about Joe.

"No," Ranger said."But it_ is _a side bonus."

I blew out a sigh. I hadn't given any thought to Morelli finding out. Although we've been broken up for a while, I knew the news of me marrying Ranger was going to hurt. Not only because Joe had been talking about getting married for years, but because of _who_ I was marrying. Joe had always warned me that Ranger, and his lifestyle, were dangerous. And he'd tried to keep me from working with Ranger as much as he possibly could. Which, obviously, led to a lot of our fights. So it was going to be a one-two punch when someone tells him about us.

"Babe," Ranger said."Are you still with me?"

"I was just thinking," I told him.

"Couldn't have been anything good judging by your expression."

"I was just worried about how Joe was going to take it when he finds out about this."

"He knows we're together," Ranger pointed out.

"Yes ... but us getting married is something else entirely."

"What do you think he's going to do?" Ranger asked me.

"Nothing, I hope," I said."I just don't want to hurt him."

"Morelli had his chance," Ranger said."Now he'll just have to deal with you being unavailable _permanently_."

"Wow. You're Mr. Sensitivity this morning."

"Babe, that was me being sensitive," Ranger said with a smile.

"Are you implying that I'm going to be easy to get over?"

"No," Ranger said."I'd be feeling the same way as Morelli if our situations were reversed. But I don't want you thinking about him. If anything, the news might give him a reason to move on."

"Move on? Like leave Trenton?"

"No," Ranger said."More like it'll give him a reason to leave you alone. He's been under the impression that we won't last long. And he seems more than willing to wait for just the right moment to get his foot back in the door."

"But Joe and I had been broken up for a while before we started seeing each other," I said."Wouldn't he have tried to get back together then?"

"Babe," Ranger said."I hate to say this, but your track record with Morelli hasn't been all that good. The two of you have broken up and gotten back together so many times that Morelli probably figured it would be just a matter of waiting you out before you were a couple again."

"Doesn't my _track record _make_ you _nervous?" I asked Ranger.

"No."

"Why not?" I asked, curious.

"First off," Ranger said,"you're wearing my ring."

I looked down at my finger again."Yeah. And?"

"You and Morelli couldn't discuss anything wedding related without you breaking out in a cold sweat," Ranger said."Let alone pick out a ring. And you didn't hesitate at all when I asked you." Ranger smiled."At least, you didn't hesitate when you finally figured out that I wasn't messing with you."

I gave him a Burg worthy glare."Are you done?"

"No. You and Morelli were never right for each other," Ranger said.

"Oh, really?" I said, my eyebrow raised."And just when had you figured that out?"

"From the very beginning. Morelli was expecting you to settle down eventually and turn into a typical Burg housewife, not continue on as a bounty hunter who gets shot at every other day."

"I could be a damn good housewife if I wanted to," I said."And sometimes people don't shoot at me."

"That's the thing, Steph," Ranger said to me."You don't _want _to be a housewife. And there will never be anything typical about you."

"That's a good thing, right?"

Ranger picked up my hand and kissed the inside of my wrist."It's a very good thing, Babe."

"Just out of curiosity," I asked,"when did you know that_ we _were right for each other?" I held my breath waiting for his answer.

"The same time," Ranger said, his voice soft.

"Then why were you always pushing me away?"

Ranger placed my hand back down onto the table."You weren't ready," he said."Yes, I wanted you. But I wasn't willing to risk the future I knew we could have together just to get you into bed. At least, I couldn't risk it again."

My mind flashed back to the DeChooch deal for a moment."Jeez," I said."All that was going on behind the mask? You know, you could have sped this whole thing up if you learned how to communicate better."

Ranger laughed."Don't worry, I had a plan if you took too long."

I didn't ask about the plan, but I suspected it had something to do with getting me in a bed for an extended period of time. Or a car. Or an alley ...

Ranger pushed back from the table."I have to get to work. I can't put it off any longer."

I knew what he meant, the men were going to be impossible."Do you need me to protect you?" I asked.

Ranger bent down and kissed me."No. I'll just fire all of them if they get out of hand. What are your plans for the day?"

"Bonds office first thing. Lula won't wait forever." Too bad there was no way of threatening Lula when she got out of hand. Lula wasn't afraid of _anything_, least of all anything I would be able to come up with.


	2. Chapter 2

**Since I couldn't do it personally, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has left guest reviews for chapter 1. This chapter contains spoilers for Smokin' Seventeen. Anything familiar belongs to Janet Evanovich.**

**Chapter 2**

I grabbed my stuff and made the ten minute drive to the bonds office. This was going to be fun, I thought to myself as I swung into the office. Lula had been sitting on the fake leather couch flipping through a magazine. The second I stepped through the front door, she was on her feet.

"Okay," Lula said."I've waited long enough. Spill it."

"Yeah," Connie said."We're dying to know what happened."

"You were on your way back to Rangeman last night," Lula said,"so obviously Ranger didn't dump you. So what was dinner about? What'd he want with you?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," I said to them. How could they believe it when_ I _still couldn't believe it myself? I had purposely kept my hand out of sight until after I told them. I knew they'd need to see the ring as proof.

"Uh-uh, that ain't gonna fly," Lula said."Somethin' must of happened last night. And you're gonna tell us what it was."

"You're not leaving this office until you do," Connie added, backing up Lula.

I took a deep breath and forged ahead."Ranger asked me to marry him last night," I said. It felt strange saying it out loud. _Ranger_ and_ marriage _still didn't seem to go together.

Lula's eyes looked like they were going to pop right out of her head, and Connie sat down hard in the chair behind her desk. For a few seconds nobody said anything. You could have heard a pin drop.

"Are you fuckin' with us?" Lula said.

"No."

"Ranger really asked you to marry him?" Connie asked, the shock evident on her face.

"Yep," I said. And I held up my left hand so they could see my engagement ring. If I was going to keep showing my ring off, which I fully intended to do, then I was going to have to start lifting weights or something. It was beautiful, but I was worried that my finger wasn't strong enough to support it.

Lula grabbed my hand and yanked it under her nose for a closer look."Holy shit. _HOLY SHIT!" _Lula yelled."Look at the size of this ring. I could buy a house for what this here rings worth. I bet it's real and everything. Ranger wouldn't give you no cheap-ass ring."

Connie was around the desk, nearly pulling my arm out of it's socket, to get a look, too."I can't believe it," she said."I've known Ranger for _years_. And I never would have thought he'd_ ever _get married again."

"I was more surprised than you," I told her."I thought he was playing a joke on me."

"That's a serious ring you got there," Lula said.

"Yeah. That's what finally convinced me."

"Dang, I can't believe you're going to be Mrs. Ranger. I don't know how you did it. Well, I know one way you did it, but to get him to propose ... Girlfriend, that took skills."

Skills I still thought I lacked. But Ranger _did_ propose, so I must be doing something right in that department.

"You gotta tell us everything," Lula said, sitting back down.

"Don't leave a thing out," Connie said, shaking her head."I still can't believe it."

"You're not the only one," I said, dropping down in the chair in front of Connie's desk.

I told them about the restaurant. And I told them how I thought someone had put Ranger up to it, but I left out the dessert part of the night. After all, there were some things that Connie and Lula didn't need to know. And even if I wanted to, I didn't think I could I find words to describe the details if I could.

I sat back in my chair when I was finished. Connie and Lula still looked a little stunned.

"Your mom is going to have a heart attack when you tell her," Connie said.

"Yeah," Lula said,"but Grandma Mazur is going to be happy. She's gonna make sure she got the seat by Ranger at every dinner you have there."

Shit. My family. I'd forgotten all about having to tell them for a minute. My mother was going to kill me. Not to say that she didn't like Ranger. It's just that he wasn't considered family material in my mother's eyes. Hell, she'd barely considered _Joe_ to be family material.

"Um ..." Lula started."I hate to bring this up, but what about Morelli?"

Good question. Even after talking about him with Ranger, it was one I still didn't have an answer for. So I went with stalling.

"What about him?"

Connie and Lula's eyebrows raised.

"You fall on your head or somethin'?" Lula asked."What do mean _what about Morelli?_ You were practically engaged to _him_ not too long ago."

I slumped a little lower in my seat. My earlier worries about hurting Joe were back with a vengeance.

"This has the potential to turn real ugly," Connie said.

I glared at her.

Connie put her palms up in surrender."I'm just saying that they're both armed. Both alpha-male types. And both in love with you. So this could go badly if Morelli was holding out for a reconciliation."

Connie wasn't saying anything I didn't already know, but hearing it said out loud didn't help the knot that was steadily growing in my stomach.

"_Does_ Morelli want back with you?" Lula asked.

I shrugged."I haven't got the foggiest idea. I haven't seen him in a while."

"Are you going to tell him yourself?" Connie asked."Or wait and hope he finds out when you're on your honeymoon?"

I was leaning towards honeymoon, but I didn't think that would be fair to Joe. After all, we have a long history that, I think, still included a distant friendship.

I blew out a sigh."The news should come from me. I owe him that much."

"Uh-uh," Lula said."That don't sound like a good idea to me. Ranger'd be pissed."

"Why would he be pissed?" I asked Lula.

Both Lula and Connie shook their heads at my obvious stupidity.

"Girl," Lula said,"I thought you would of learned somethin' about the way men think by now since you'd pretty much been involved with two of them at the same time."

"I know _a lot _about men," I said.

"Uh-huh," Lula said, not convinced,"if you say so."

"What am I missing?" I asked Connie.

"You're going to talk to the guy that's been your on-and-off again boyfriend since _forever_," Connie said, taking pity on me."If that wasn't enough, you're specifically going to talk to him to tell him that you're about to marry the guy that had been the biggest obstacle in your relationship? And you don't know why Ranger wouldn't want you to?"

"Joe wouldn't hurt me," I said.

"Not physically. But_ emotionally _... that could be a whole different story. And I'm sure Ranger wouldn't want you to be put in a position of having to defend him, or your relationship."

Well, it made sense when she put it that way."Maybe Joe won't find out," I said. Of course knowing how fast news travels in the Burg, Morelli's probably heard all about it and was on his way here.

"You got some life," Lula said."First off, you're engaged to Batman. And second, you have the finest ass in Trenton wanting you back. I wish I had your problems."

"No you don't," I told Lula."They give you stomach cramps and eye twitches."

"You're right. I don't want no digestive issues. I got my eatin' down to a science. Speaking of eatin'," Lula said."I could go for a Cluck-in-a-Bucket run."

I looked at my watch."It's not even lunchtime."

Lula stuck her hand on her hip."So? What's that got to do with anything?"

"I have to clean the office and you promised to help me," Connie said, pointing a finger at Lula."And you're not leaving until you do."

"Hunh," Lula said, grabbing the garbage can and walking over to Connie's desk."Hold on," she said to me,"I can take care of this real quick."

Connie beat her to the desk."You are not going to just throw everything away."

Lula's eyes narrowed and I sensed her rhino mode coming on.

"I don't have anything better to do right now," I told Lula, hoping to calm her down,"so I'll help you two with the cleaning. And then we'll all go to Cluck-in-a-Bucket for lunch." I hated anything to do with picking up after anyone, myself included, but I didn't want Lula and Connie to kill each other. With my luck, Morelli would be assigned the case if they did. It was really sad when_ I _had to be the grown up in the room.

"I guess that'd be okay," Lula said."At least _someone_ here is makin' sense."

Connie glared at her.

"I hope you got money on you," Lula said looking over at me,"because I'm gonna work up a real appetite here."

Why, me? I thought to myself, and picked up a stack of papers.

A couple of hours later, I dropped Connie and Lula back at the office and headed to the safety of my car.

Traffic was starting to form, so I turned off of Hamilton and mindlessly wound my way through a few side-streets, my thoughts on how I was going to tell my mother tomorrow about Ranger and I getting married. Most women wanted their mother to be the first person they told. I wasn't one of them. I was going to put it off as long as I possibly could.

I slammed my foot down on the brake just in time to avoid running a red light. Maybe I should be paying more attention to my driving and less attention to my mother. And while I was waiting for the light to change back to green, my passenger window was suddenly smashed in. A beat later, a meaty arm came through the window and unlocked the door. A big guy with a blond buzz cut climbed into the seat and pointed a nasty looking gun in my face. Had I had more time, I'd have taken his arm off getting the heck out of there. But it happened so fast, and was so unexpected, that my reaction time was slow.

I suppose it says something about my life when my first thought about being carjacked wasn't,_ 'Oh my God! What am I going to do?' _But rather,_ 'Oh shit. Here we go again.'_

"Drive!" The guy said.

"I don't think so," I said, sounding more confident than I actually felt. Sometimes criminals will back off if you put up a fight.

My head rocked back from the blow, and all I could feel was pain radiating from my temple where I'm guessing the butt of his gun had struck me. Okay, apparently this wasn't going to be one of those times. He wasn't backing off.

"I'm not going to say it again," he said."Drive!"

I wasn't going to push my luck. Yet. My foot hit the gas and I drove on auto pilot while I tried to come up with some way out of this. Unfortunately, the pounding in my head was making it difficult to focus. How do these things always happen to me? Great. Now, on top of everything else, I sounded like my mother.

The carjacker hadn't said anything aside from a few clipped directions. The more I thought about it, the more pissed off I became. I mean, who the hell did this guy think he was? I had things to do, for crying out loud. I had Rex to take care of. I had a wedding to look forward to; who knew I'd ever think_ that. _The beginning of a brand new life with Ranger. There was no way I was going to let some moron with no manners, no brain, and no deodorant take those away from me. So I did the only thing I could ... I crashed the car. I figured Ranger wouldn't mind me wrecking another one of his cars in this particular case. Not that he _ever_ seemed to mind. As the car hit concrete, I strained against my seat belt and felt the airbag deploy. The sudden silence was deafening. I sat for a few beats and mentally checked myself out. No pain except for where he had hit me. I could move all my parts so nothing was broken. Good deal. The guy next to me wasn't so lucky. He hadn't been wearing a seat belt and the airbag hadn't been much help to him. His head got knocked into the broken glass of the passenger window. He wasn't moving, or groaning for that matter, so I could only assume that he had lost consciousness. All I had to do now was get my ass out of there before he woke up.

I unbuckled the seat belt and wrenched my door open. My legs were like rubber but I knew that was a small price to pay for not getting shot ... or worse. I started down the deserted street, keeping to the shadows not wanting the carjacker or anyone else to see me.

I had been walking for about ten minutes when I saw headlights coming towards me. I'd ducked behind a tree and would have stayed there if I hadn't caught sight of the car. A Porsche Cayenne. Ranger. I'd somehow forgotten about the tracking device in my ring. And, not to mention on my car. The control room would have known something was up, since I was supposed to be on my way back to Rangeman, and my ring and my car were in two different places.

The Cayenne stopped on the road in front of me, and I took off towards it. I had crashed the car without having to think about it. But now that it was over, the fear of what could have happened tonight had set in and I was starting to shake.

Ranger met me halfway and pulled me to him, his arms tightening like steel bands around me. I slid my hands up his back and clutched his shoulders in a death grip. I was afraid he was going to have to cut his T-shirt off to get me to let go of him.

We stood wrapped around each other for a few moments, not saying anything until my shaking had stopped. Ranger eased back and looked down at me, his mouth a grim line when he got a look at my face. I didn't need him to tell me how bad I looked. My head was killing me.

"Are you all right?"

I blew out a breath."I'm fine now," I said.

"What happened?"

"I was driving back to Rangeman and I stopped for a light. The next thing I knew, this idiot was in my car with a gun pointed at me."

"The crash?" Ranger asked.

"It was the only thing I could think of at the time to get myself out of the car and away from him."

"Good thinking, Babe," he said, his arms tightening even more. Probably he was thinking of what could have happened tonight, too.

I looked up at him."I really am all right," I told him, starting to believe it now myself."I'm like a cat. I've got nine lives."

"That's true, Babe, but you've used up a lot more than nine since I've known you."

"I've been busy," I said. And more than a little stupid at times.

A black Rangeman SUV drove past us on the street. No doubt heading to the crash site. Tank got out of a second SUV that had pulled up behind the Cayenne. Tank didn't say anything, but I saw his eyes go hard when he also got a glimpse of my face. He exchanged a look with Ranger before getting back into the SUV and taking off towards my car. I got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"Shouldn't we be hearing sirens by now?"

"It didn't seem necessary to call the cops right now," Ranger said."They're probably busy and I'd hate to disturb them for this."

Uh-oh. I looked up at Ranger."This guy's going to make it to the police station, right?" I asked him.

"Eventually," Ranger said.

"You know," I said to Ranger,"you can't just go around killing people that upset you."

"I didn't say anything about killing him."

"You didn't say anything about _not_ killing him, either," I pointed out.

Ranger took a step back and opened the passenger door for me."He'll be taken care of," Ranger said. End of conversation.

I slumped into the comfy leather seat and leaned my head back. I hated to admit it, but I didn't really care a whole lot about what happens to the carjacker. Tomorrow I would care. Maybe.

Ranger angled behind the wheel and drove me back to Rangeman. At least, that was where I thought he was taking me. I must have dozed off, or possible passed out for a few minutes, because when I opened my eyes Ranger was leaning over me, unbuckling my seat belt. I looked past Ranger and blinked in confusion. We weren't at Rangeman. We were in the parking area of the emergency room.

I sat up straighter."What are we doing here?" I asked, as if I didn't already know.

"Babe," Ranger said,"you just passed out on me. I want you to get checked out to make sure you don't have a concussion."

"I don't want to go in there," I said."I'm fine. I don't need a doctor to tell me that my head hurts. I already know it does."

Ranger paused for a moment making up his mind.

"Please," I added, hoping it would work on him the same way him saying it does on me.

He got back behind the wheel after another moment of internal debate."I'm only agreeing to this because I'll be keeping an eye on you all night," Ranger said to me, his voice serious."But if you pass out again, you're going to the hospital."

I rebuckled my seatbelt. Fair enough. I hated hospitals but I hated dying more.

I really wanted to curl up in the seat and close my eyes, but I was afraid Ranger would immediately make a U-turn and head straight back to the hospital if I wasn't completely awake and alert.

Ranger drove through the center of the city with one eye on me the whole time. I was starting to worry about how bad my face looked. I didn't feel any worse than I had in the past when I've been injured, but Ranger was acting a little more concerned than I thought this warranted. Could be just the fact that now that we were_ engaged_, my well being was going to be more of a issue for him if that was at all possible.

Ranger turned down Haywood and pulled into the Rangeman garage. He came around to my side of the car and opened the door for me. I could get used to this, I thought to myself. Without the carjacking, of course. Ranger helped me out of the Cayenne and put his arm around me, propelling me into the elevator.

I stood leaning heavily into Ranger and tried to keep the bruised part of my face out of the the cameras line of sight. I didn't want the guys in the control to worry. I'd found out, more than once, that when the men were worried they took matters into their own hands without listening to reason. They've adopted me as sort of the Rangeman mascot. And everyone knows, you _never_ mess with a team's mascot.

Ranger noticed what I was doing."No point in hiding, Babe," Ranger said to me."They all know about what happened. This guy's safer in jail right now."

I stiffened in his arms.

"Don't worry," Ranger said."Once the men found out that you were okay, they mostly calmed down."

"Mostly or totally?" I asked, looking up at him.

"You can't blame them for being upset," Ranger said."They care about you."

"That's good to know," I said."But I don't want anyone getting in trouble because of me."

"They'd have to get caught first," Ranger said, his mouth in the almost smile.

The elevator doors opened. Ranger unlocked his door, and tugged me through the apartment into his bathroom. He tilted my head back and looked closely at the side of my face under the light.

"This doesn't look good," Ranger said, finally."What did he hit you with?"

"The butt of his gun."

Ranger ran a washcloth under the faucet. I think he needed a moment to get a grip on his feelings. Ranger wasn't happy.

He came back to me and gently applied the cloth to my face.

I caught his hand and made him look at me."I've been through worse, remember?"

"This should never have happened in the first place."

"Look," I said to him,"as much as you'd like to, you can't stop every bad thing from happening. Especially to me. I'm all right, aside from having my face look like a page from a coloring book."

Ranger held my eye for a long moment. Deciding if I was just putting on a show, or if I was really as okay as I seemed.

He must have believed me.

"And on the bright side," I said to Ranger,"_if_ my mother finds out about this, it'll make telling her about our engagement a lot easier. It'll be hard for her to flip out too much over two things at the same time." But since the police weren't called, my mother wouldn't have her normal source of gossip so she might not find out about the carjacking until the guy was brought in, which wouldn't help me at all. Jeez, I couldn't even get being carjacked to work in my favor.

"Babe," Ranger said,"you're the only one who would say something like that."

Hard to tell if that was a compliment or a complaint. Best not to ask.

Ranger tossed the towel into the sink, and pulled me to him."It was a compliment." Ranger was reading my thoughts again since I was pretty sure I hadn't said anything out loud."Just when I think I've seen it all, you manage to surprise me," Ranger said, his lips moving against the uninjured side of my head.

There was something almost gentle in his voice."You know, for someone who's supposed to be such a badass," I said to Ranger,"you've got a soft spot."

"Only for you, Babe," he said, taking a step back and looking down at me."I'm sure Ella brought something up to eat if you're up to it."

I wasn't sure if I was hungry, but I didn't want to have to think about anything right now. And dinner sounded like a good distraction.

"I could go for something to eat."

Ranger wrapped his arm around my shoulders and moved me towards the kitchen.

After we finished eating; mostly it was me eating and Ranger watching_ me_, we'd migrated to Ranger's den and to watch a late game. Ranger was sitting slouched back in the couch, and I was curled up next to him, my head resting on his leg. I couldn't say it was the softest place for my head, since Ranger was all muscle and his thigh was no exception, but I didn't care. I was just happy to be alive with Ranger close by.

I was starting to get drowsy, and I shifted my head a little trying to stay awake when Ranger spoke.

"Careful, Babe," he said, looking down at me.

"I wasn't doing anything."

"But I might," Ranger said, his eyes darkening,"if you don't stop squirming in my lap."

The visual that popped into my head at his words took care of the feeling sleepy problem. I moved my head another inch and smiled."Was that a threat?" I asked. What better way to forget about my head than to make certain other body parts a priority. I knew it would sound stupid to most people, but over the last few months, longer than that if I was being honest with myself, I'd begun viewing Ranger as_ my _cure for whatever ailed me. No matter how upset I was, or how hurt, just having Ranger there with me made me believe, however improbable, that everything would be okay. And having a banged up head was nothing compared to some of the other things Ranger had gotten me through.

"More like a promise."

My toes curled. Ranger _always_ kept his promises. I sat up carefully and flung my leg over his, straddling him. Ranger's hands settled on my hips holding me against him. I bent my head to his, my lips brushing his ear as I spoke.

"And you always keep your promises, right?"

One of Ranger's hands moved to my breast."Right, Babe," Ranger said."But your head ..."

"My head isn't the part of my body that I'm thinking about."

That was all Ranger needed. He stood up, with me still wrapped around him, and headed for the bedroom. Minutes later, we were both naked. I was on my back in bed and Ranger's hand was skimming the inside of my thigh. I had a grip on the sheet and I think my eyes might have been rolled back in my head in anticipation of what was ahead. A few minutes later, I could honestly say that I'd felt no pain.

Ranger also kept his promise of keeping his eye on me throughout the night. He woke me every hour to make sure my brain was still functioning properly. After the night I'd just had, I wasn't sure that was a reasonable goal. And you would think being continuously woken up would be beyond annoying, but Ranger did it in very _inventive_ ways. Like his lips finding a particularly sensitive spot on my neck. Or his hand skimming across my breast. His leg sliding along mine. What can I say? Ranger has an excellent bedside manner.

I was in my cubby the following morning running a few searches for Rangeman when a woman walked in with Tank. This was strange for a number of reasons. First being that no one shared anything about their personal lives here at Rangeman. Except for Ranger, of course. And an occasional picture of Tank's cat might appear. But other than that, it would look to the world like the Rangeman men had no social lives. So the appearance of a woman with Tank had my curiosity up and running.

Tank talked to Hal for a few moments and then ushered the woman into Ranger's office. I felt my eyes squinch together. I'm not the jealous type, usually, but I knew something was up since Ranger didn't mention anything to me about a mystery woman this morning. So I did the only thing a newly engaged woman could do when an somewhat attractive woman was being brought to her fiance's office. I pushed back from my desk and followed slowly behind Tank down the hall.

I couldn't hear a whole lot, since his door was partially closed, but I did let out a breath when I heard a few words about a job for her. Wait a minute, they were talking about what I've come to refer to as a "distraction job." That didn't make any sense. Ranger always called me when he needed a short skirt to lore some poor, unsuspecting FTA out of a building. Why would he all of a sudden hire out? I couldn't come up with any reason that would explain it or, at the very least, lower my blood pressure.

I skulked back to my cubby and waited with steam ready to shoot out of the top of my head until Tank got back into the elevator with the _other woman_. Then I hauled myself out of my chair and willed myself to stay calm on my way back to Ranger's office.

His door was open this time and I didn't bother knocking before I walked in, closing the door firmly behind me.

"What was that all about?" I demanded, hands on hips.

Ranger's mouth tipped up in an almost smile."Babe, were you eavesdropping again?"

"Maybe," I said, folding my arms across my chest. Belligerent. It's a look that every woman in my family had perfected.

Ranger crooked his finger at me."Come here."

I shook my head side to side."I don't think so." There was no way I was going to let him seduce his way out of this one."Why are you giving a job to some bimbo, when I'm right here?"

"Come here and I'll tell you," Ranger said.

I blew out a sigh and closed the distance between us. When I headed for the chair across from his desk, Ranger wrapped a hand around my wrist and pulled me into his lap, his arms tight around me holding me there.

"Hey!" I said."This isn't fair. I'm mad at you right now."

"You can't be mad at me," Ranger said, brushing a kiss against my hair.

"Why didn't you tell me you had a job?" I asked, pulling as far as I could away from him.

"I was planning on talking to you about it after Tank left," Ranger said."I should have guessed that your ear would have been plastered to the door."

"Why didn't you ask me?" I asked again, not letting up for a minute.

"I _was_ going to ask you," Ranger said to me."But in case you weren't feeling up to it, or you didn't want to do it, I had to make sure we had someone ready to take your place."

"My heads fine," I said."Well, mostly fine. And why wouldn't I want to do this job?"

"I wasn't sure if you were going to be comfortable flirting with a man who wasn't me now that we're engaged."

I hadn't thought about that, but since I'd been in love with Ranger for years and I still managed to get the job done, I hadn't considered that things may be different now.

"Does it bother you?" I asked him.

"I'll admit that it doesn't make me happy to think of someone hitting on you," Ranger said,"but it's your decision to make."

I thought about that for a second before speaking again."As long as I know you're not going to be upset about it and try to kill the guy, then I'll be fine."

"I make no promises, Babe, if there's a possibility of you being hurt."

"I'm always in danger of getting hurt," I told him."Considering the bruise I have from something that _was not _work related, you should know that better than anyone." I'd used a_ ton _of makeup on my face this morning, but the bruise was still visible if you looked close enough. Luckily, most of the bars where we pick up skips weren't bright inside.

"While that's true, Steph," Ranger said,"I don't want you getting hurt _again_. Especially if it's because I asked you to do a job for Rangeman when you weren't 100 percent. I don't like you being in danger, but I don't want to change who you are because I'm worried about keeping you in one piece. So I wanted the decision to take the job to be yours."

"You know, I was never sure about having kids, but this clinches it. If you're acting like this now," I said to him,"then there's no way we're _ever_ having kids. You'd be impossible."

Ranger's hand slid under my T-shirt making my muscles bunch where his hand rested against my stomach."I'd be worse than impossible," Ranger said, his lips skimming my ear."But you'd get used to it."

Not in this lifetime, I thought. I'd finally relented on the tracking devices, but it took me years to do it.

Ranger moved his left hand from my stomach to my thigh. I looked down at his hand, which was free from any jewelry, and suddenly had a thought about the woman that had just left Ranger's office.

"How come women wear engagement rings but men don't?" I asked.

"Women like diamonds more than men?"

"Funny," I said to him."Seriously though, women walk around with a ring that pretty much screams '_Hands off!' _to other men_, _but guys have nothing to keep other women from poaching. No one would even know that _you're_ engaged," Like that bimbo that just left your office, I thought to myself.

"Is that something you're worried about?" Ranger asked.

"I don't know," I answered honestly.

I trusted Ranger in every way. But ever since finding Dickhead doing Joyce on my brand new dining room table ten minutes after I married him, there's always been a little part of me that wondered if anyone_ could _stay faithful to me. I guess that would explain my reluctance to commit fully in a relationship until now.

Ranger crossed his arms over me, pulling me tighter to him."You don't have to worry on the score, Babe," Ranger said."Once your mother and grandmother find out, the whole state of New Jersey will know that we're engaged."

That would be true, once my mother regained consciousness after I told her, that is.

"And you don't have to worry about other women," Ranger added."Most of them are usually too scared of me to do more than look."

"Well, I don't exactly have men throwing themselves at me, either."

"What about Dave?" Ranger said."He walked naked into your bathroom while you were showering. That's close to throwing himself at you, don't you think?"

I shuddered at the memory. A few weeks ago, in a misguided attempt to convince Ranger that I could, in fact, take care of myself if I had to, I accidentally told him about Dave Brewer. How Dave had broken into my bathroom. And how I had to break his nose.

Dave was a man my mother had tried, unsuccessfully I might add, to fix me up with. I'd told Dave repeatedly that I wasn't interested in him, but he wouldn't take no for an answer. He also turned out to be a serial killer, so it was probably good that I_ hadn't _been interested. I'd forgotten that I wasn't going to tell Ranger anything at all about Dave. But I guess I was too wrapped up in making a point.

"He had help from my mother," I said.

"He's lucky he got shot," Ranger said, and I could hear something slightly scary in his voice. Ranger was no happier now than he'd been when I first told him about Dave.

I let my body relax against Ranger and looked up at him. I tried to remove the sudden stiffness from his mouth by brushing my thumb across his bottom lip."I thought I told you that you couldn't just go around killing people that annoy you."

Ranger's mouth thinned. Uh-oh.

"Dave did more than annoy me," Ranger said.

I patted his cheek and settled back down, my face pressed into the side of his neck inhaling the scent that was distinctly Ranger. If someone could figure out a way to bottle that scent, they'd be millionaires in a matter of minutes.

"I'm sure he did," I said, sweetly."But Dave's dead. And you can't kill someone twice."

You could however, as I'd found out, have three people try to kill you all at the same time. Which is why Dave was dead. He got in the way of two other people planning on eliminating me that night.

"What were we talking about?" I asked, feeling the need to get off the Dave subject.

"Engagement rings," Ranger said."And if I did anything to mess up with you, I'd likely get my ass kicked by every guy here at Rangeman. They seem to be almost as protective of you as I am."

Like anyone _could _kick Ranger's ass. I picked my head up enough to give Ranger a _yeah-right _look.

He smiled."When were you planning on going to your parents' house?"

"I was going to finish up here, and head over around dinner time," I said."I could always wait until tomorrow if you need me."

"I always need you here," Ranger said, kissing the top of my head."But you need to tell your mother before she hears it from someone else. You sure you don't want me to go with you?"

I'd planned on telling my mother about my engagement tonight, but I wasn't sure exactly how she would take the news. On the one hand, I'd be married and off the streets; one of my mother's goals since two days after my divorce to Dickie went through. On the other hand, I was marrying Ranger. And if my mother was going to say anything against Ranger, I didn't want him to be around to here it.

Ranger, as usual, read my thoughts."Babe, I can handle your mother."

"I know," I said. Ranger, unlike me, didn't believe in avoiding things no matter how difficult they were to do."But I still think it'd be easier if I told her alone."

"Your choice," Ranger said."I'll be here if you need me."

I gave Ranger a quick kiss. Okay it was supposed to be a quick kiss, but Ranger had other plans. When he finally broke away, my face was heated, along with a few other places. I slid off Ranger's lap before he could stop me, and started back to my cubby. I paused in the doorway of the office and looked back at Ranger.

"You can have Tank call that woman back and tell her she's not needed," I told Ranger."If you need something then _I_ want to be the one to help you. Okay?"

"If that's what you want, Babe."

I smiled at him."It's what I want," I said, and walked back to my desk.


	3. Chapter 3

**All characters, familiar places, and phrases belong to Janet. The mistakes are mine.**

**Chapter 3**

Five o'clock came all to soon. I shut my computer down, said goodbye to Ranger, and took the elevator down to the garage. I pointed my car towards the Burg and toyed with the idea off stopping at Giovichinni's or Tasty Pastry just to prolong the drive to my parents' house, but decided against it. My mother wouldn't need anything. And she would probably be insulted that I bought something in the first place. Implying that her food wasn't as good as food from a supermarket prepared by someone other than her.

I pulled into my parents' driveway. I took a deep breath, and hauled myself out of the car. Grandma Mazur met me at the door.

"Well this is a nice surprise," Grandma said."We weren't expecting you tonight. Valerie's here, too. It's gonna feel like a party." She looked past me to the driveway."Is Ranger with you?"

I walked into the house with Grandma right behind me."Nope, not tonight," I said."It's just me."

"Too bad," Grandma said."I always have a good time when Ranger visits."

Well that's good news, I thought. At least I'll have one person wishing me well. My mother and father, well that might take a little work. Maybe not so much my dad. He seemed to like Ranger. But whether he wanted Ranger marrying his daughter might be something else entirely. And at one point, in the midst of pregnancy induced desperation, Valerie had plans of marrying Ranger herself.

"Look here, Helen," Grandma yelled to my mother,"Stephanie's here for dinner." Grandma looked over at me."You're staying for dinner right?"

"Yes." Unless I could find a way out of it.

"We're having roast chicken, potatoes, and chocolate cake for dessert."

Dinner was sounding more and more like a good idea now. I _loved _my mother's chocolate cake. Just the thought of it had gotten me through many dinners here.

My mother poked her head out of the kitchen."Stephanie, what a nice surprise. Your sister is here, too." She paused for a moment, looking at my face."Why do you always have to wear so much make up? You're pretty enough without needing all of that stuff."

Pretty_ enough_? What the heck did that mean? "Thanks," I said to my mother."I think."

I said hi to my father, who was parked in his usual chair in front of the television, on my way to the kitchen. I didn't hear any babies crying or girls arguing, so I assumed Valerie was here alone.

"Where are Albert and the girls?" I asked Valerie, walking into the kitchen.

Valerie was standing at the counter mashing the potatoes. My mother _never_ trusted me with mashing the potatoes. I was always given table-setting chores. Not that I blamed her, because I was horrible at anything having to do with the kitchen aside from eating in it.

"Albert's parents wanted to take the girls for the day," Valerie said,"but I was worried they weren't up for watching over three kids for the entire day so I made Albert go with them."

I raised my eyebrow at that."And you think Albert would be a help?" More than likely he'd be more of a hindrance. I liked Albert but, in my opinion, he was more of a house pet than a husband.

Valerie blew a strand of hair off of her forehead."I really needed a day off and this was my only chance."

I knew exactly what she meant. If _I_ had three girls, _and_ had to live with Kloughn, I'd commit a serious crime just to get myself locked up.

Grandma came up behind me."How was your day?" Grandma asked me."I saw you get out of Ranger's car so I know that didn't get blown up. Did anything exciting happen?"

That was a tricky question. I wanted to wait until I had cake before I told my mother the news.

"Sort of," I said, trying to stall,"but I thought I'd wait until after dinner to discuss it."

My mother froze."You're pregnant!" She practically yelled."I've always wanted more grandchildren, but why do I have to be the one with two unmarried daughters getting pregnant?"

"Hey!" Valerie said."I'm married."

"You weren't married to Albert when you got knocked up," Grandma pointed out.

"I'm not pregnant!" I told my mother."Jeez. Why do you always think I'm pregnant when I say I have news? I've _never_ been pregnant." And after the conversation I'd had with Ranger earlier in the day, I wasn't likely to be.

"Well, what is it then?" Grandma wanted to know."You got me curious now."

I blew out a sigh. This wasn't going the way that I had planned. Not that _anything_ went as planned in my life.

"Can't we just wait until after dinner?" I said. I_ really _needed that cake. And my mother wasn't the type to let you eat dessert first."Besides, if we don't eat dinner now the chicken will be dry."

I'd hit on the only thing that would distract my mother. In all the time my mother has cooked dinner, she's made sure that everything hit the table at exactly six o'clock. One minute late meant dry meat, lumpy potatoes, and cold vegetables. Something my mother would give her very life to prevent.

My mother's mouth thinned, but I knew I had her. She spun around and pulled the chicken out of the oven.

"Valerie," my mother said,"put the potatoes on the table. Stephanie can bring out the wine."

See, I still wasn't allowed anywhere near the food until it was already on the table. I grabbed the two bottles of opened red wine and brought them out to the dining room table. My father was already in his seat at the head of the table.

When there was only crumbs left of the chocolate cake my grandmother started.

"Okay," Grandma said,"spit it out. I haven't got all day."

"Yeah," Valerie said,"we want to know what's going on."

My mother looked like she wanted to cross herself, but wasn't sure if she should wait until after I spoke to do it."Did you quit working for Vinnie and get a job at the personal products plant?" She asked, sounding hopeful.

"No," I said. I took a deep breath and held up my left hand. I'd always heard that it was better just to rip off the Band-Aid than to draw it out and try to do it gently."_Igotengagedlastnight_," I said in a rush. There. Done._ Goodbye _Band-Aid.

The was absolute silence at the table. No one said anything. Great.

"Holy smokes," Grandma Mazur said."Get a load of that ring. That must have cost a lot of money."

My mother was the first to recover."I didn't know you got back together with Joseph."

"I didn't," I said."It's not Morelli I'm engaged to."

Grandma gave a snort."No kidding," she said."There's no way a cop could afford a ring like that."

I was pretty sure my Grandma Mazur knew the salaries of everyone in the Burg, along with all their deep dark secrets. Grandma Mazur had _ways_.

"Than who are you engaged to?" My mother asked.

I thought it was a weird question considering I'd been practically living at Rangeman. I thought the news might have screwed with her thinking a little. That and the whiskey bottle I saw her take a swig from when she was alone in the kitchen. I always thought that my mother's priorities were a little wonky. Who would rather have grandchildren from unmarried daughters than to have one of them marry someone they didn't approve of? My mother always cared more about the name on the mailbox, than about the man who lived inside the house. If I _was_ pregnant, even if it was by Ranger, she'd probably have a list of desperate Burg men who would still be willing to marry me. Though something tells me Ranger wouldn't be happy with that suggestion. Ranger signed away his rights to Julie for her own good, but I didn't think that would happen in this case. But since I wasn't pregnant, and was getting married purely by choice, my mother didn't have a back-up plan ready to throw at me.

"It's Ranger isn't it?!" Grandma Mazur asked."I knew you'd get your head out of your behind someday and go after him."

I wouldn't say that I went after him, but why quibble over details."Yes," I said."It's Ranger."

Valerie's mouth dropped open."Wow," she said, her eyes looking a little glassy. She glanced longingly at my ring then looked down at her own thin gold wedding band and sighed.

I had no problem interpreting that sigh. Kloughn couldn't possibly measure up to Ranger. But to be fair to Albert, most men couldn't measure up to Ranger. Never mind adding the ring into the equation.

"I thought you said he wasn't marriage material," Valerie said to me.

That was back when Valerie had decided she wanted to marry Ranger. Not that Ranger would have ever considered marrying Valerie, being against relationships or not. Valerie was definitely not his type.

"He wasn't ... then," I said."He's changed his mind since." I still was surprised that_ he _was the one who wanted to get married in the first place. I'd been careful to never bring it up.

"That's ridiculous," my mother said."You can't marry _Ranger_. We don't know anything about him. And we haven't even met his family." She paused for a moment."How come Ranger didn't come with you?"

"He wanted to come, but I didn't want him to have to put up with you if you were going to react badly to the news."

"Honestly, Stephanie" my mother said.

That was my mother's equivalent to swearing.

Grandma piped up again."I gotta call the girls. Everyone down at the Clip and Curl has got a thing for Ranger. They're going to be so jealous that Stephanie landed him."

I could hear my father mumble something that sounded like Jesus H. Christ under his breath. He hadn't chimed in, but I knew from past experience he'd wait until everyone else had quieted down before he added his two cents.

"I didn't _land_ him," I said.

"He's gonna marry you, right?"

"Yes," I said. Until he realizes he'll have to spend even more time with my family, I thought.

"So, you _did_ land him," Grandma said, as if this proved her point.

"Have you really thought this through?" My mother asked.

"What's to think through?" Grandma asked."He's hot. And sexy as all get out," Grandma said."He's also smart, unlike the horse's patoot she was married to. The horse's patoot that_ you _approved of," Grandma said to my mother."And Ranger's made a success of himself by having the best security firm in Trenton. All the local hotshots use Rangeman Security."

I knew Grandma liked Ranger, but I always thought it was more about the way he looked, than him as a person. I could have kissed her right then just for her support of Ranger and I.

"Ranger has always been there for Stephanie," Valerie added."No matter what she's gotten involved in, he's always there to help her out of it."

I smiled my thanks to Valerie. I let the trouble comment slide, for now. Two down, two to go. Three, if you counted Morelli.

My father stopped eating long enough to look at my mother."Helen, if anyone can keep _Stephanie_ safe and her cars from blowing up it will be Ranger."

That shocked us. My father said a whole sentence at dinner. I could count the number of times when that's happened on one hand. Usually the only thing he says is pass the gravy.

My mother looked like she wanted to say something, but thought better of it."You really want to marry Ranger?" She asked."You are actually going to get a marriage license, plan a wedding, and go through the whole ceremony?"

"Uh-huh," I said. I knew we were going to have to do all those things, I just didn't know when.

"Will Ranger be coming to dinners with you?" She asked.

"I guess, when he's not working."

"And his family, when will we be meeting them?"

That gave me a moments pause. I had no idea."We haven't discussed that yet, but I'm sure it will be soon."

"And you're not pregnant?" My mother asked again.

"No!" I said, rolling my eyes."I'm not pregnant."

I could hear Grandma whisper under her breath."_Won't be long_."

The phone rang while I was getting ready to leave.

"I'll get it," Grandma Mazur said.

I said goodbye to my father, and went back into the kitchen to get the bag of leftovers my mother had ready for me. I knew as soon as I stepped into the room, that I was in trouble. My mother's lips were pressed tight in a straight line again, and Grandma Mazur was redialing the phone.

My mother unclenched her lips long enough to ask."What is this about you being involved in a carjacking last night?"

I guess the guy finally made it to the police station. My mother's grapevine was in full swing.

"I'm okay," I said."It was just one of those wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time kind of things."

My mother crossed herself. Twice.

An hour later, after explaining everything that had happened, I was on my way back to Rangeman.

I let myself into the apartment and was struck at how comfortable I felt in Ranger's space. I figured once Rex was here it would begin to feel like home. And I was right. _Ranger's _space was slowly becoming _our_ space. I dropped my bag onto the sideboard and carted my leftover bag to the kitchen. Since Ranger didn't eat dessert, I didn't feel at all guilty for eating his share of the cake at dinner. I put the bag in the fridge and then found Ranger in his office.

"How'd it go?" Ranger asked when he saw me.

"Better than expected, actually. Grandma thinks you're hot. Valerie's jealous. My dad thinks you might be able to keep me and my cars from blowing up. And my mother didn't have a heart attack when I told her."

"Sounds like you had a good time," Ranger said,"but you could have left off the part about your grandmother thinking I'm hot."

"Oh, she's not the only one," I told him, smiling."Apparently you're the object of all of the Clip and Curl regulars' affections."

I was pretty sure Ranger wanted to roll his eyes.

"Hey," I said."It could be worse. It could that salon on Broad," I said, walking into the room. A salon that only employed men. Only welcomed male costumers. And had a reputation for blowing out more than just hair.

Ranger looked like he was thinking about smiling."You know you don't have to do all this on you're own, Babe," Ranger said, his tone turning serious.

"What do you mean?"

"We're in this together now," he said."If going to your parents' house by yourself was important to you, then I respect that decision, but I don't want it to become a habit."

"It won't," I said."But you shouldn't have to sit through a dinner full of my mother's veiled insults. She wasn't bad tonight, but I think she would have been if you were sitting as a target across from her. I wanted to put you first, for once, before anything else. The same place you've always put me over the years. And I want to be able to handle some of the less serious things on my own and make you proud of the woman I'm becoming thanks to your encouragement every day. If I can do that, and protect you at the same time, then I wanted to try."

"Babe," Ranger said,"I've been proud of you from day one. And it only increases the longer I know you."

"Thank you for saying that," I said."But I want to be someone who can be your equal, not someone you have to take care of all the time."

"There's the difference," Ranger said."I _want_ to take care of you, but I know I don't_ have _to. Babe, you need to believe it when I say that I love and trust you enough to be your own person, but I also want us to be partners in this. If you need help with something, then I want to be the one you turn to. We're building a life together. _Together_, Babe. I want to be there for you even when you don't need me to be, the same way you've helped me when you weren't even sure what you were helping me with."

"And I'm going to continue to help you through whatever you need me to, Ranger," I said to him.

"Same here, Babe," Ranger said."We're entering a new phase of our relationship. One that means we support each other in everything we do."

"Don't you think you've supported me enough over the years?" I asked."I mean ... the cars, the bodyguards, and the job offers alone - "

"All those things don't even scratch the surface of what I'd do for you."

My mind flashed back to Abruzzi and I didn't doubt him.

"I love you, Ranger," I said, closing the distance between us."I hope you know just how much."

"I do, Babe. You show me everyday."

"Are you talking about our sex life again?" I asked him.

"While it does exceed expectations," Ranger said,"I was actually talking about wanting to protect me from your family even when you don't need to."

"I should have asked you to come with me tonight."

"Maybe," Ranger said."But missing the opportunity to be checked out by Grandma Mazur makes me glad that I hadn't."

I didn't smile."Ranger," I said, holding his gaze."I wanted you there with me tonight, but I didn't want my mother to disrespect you in any way, or to bring up my relationship with Joe in an attempt to come between us." I took a deep breath and let it out slowly."I'm happier now than I've ever been in my life and I wanted to protect that feeling, and us, from her."

"I know, Steph," Ranger said, brushing his fingers along my cheek,"but I had the same thoughts about protecting you."

"I'm new at this mature relationship stuff, Ranger," I said,"so I'm bound to make mistakes once in a while, but I want you to know that I'm going to keep at it until I get it right. Just don't give up on me, okay?"

"I would never give up on you, Babe," Ranger said, softly."Or on us."

I put both of my hands on the arms of his office chair, leaned forward, and kissed him.

When Ranger went missing during the Homer Ramos murder investigation, I could barely function with not knowing if he was all right, but even that paled in comparison to what I felt just thinking about what my life would be like without him.

"I never thought I'd feel comfortable saying this out loud," I said, when I pulled back,"but it's terrifying to think that if I'd never gotten fired from my job in Newark, I might never have met you."

"I think that we would have found our way to each other without Connie's help eventually," Ranger said.

"Maybe," I said, but I wasn't so sure. And I didn't like the thought of a life without Ranger in it.

I scooted some paper out of my way and sat my ass down on the desk facing him.

"You look like you've been busy while I was gone," I said gesturing to the pile of paper I'd just moved.

"Contracts on a new account," Ranger said to me.

I took a moment to study him."Are you ever not on call?" I asked him. If Ranger wasn't busy hunting down a skip, he was out checking on clients, or meeting with potential clients, or flying to another Rangeman office in another state to fix a problem. And after every one of those things was handled, there was always an obscene amount of paperwork that needed to be done.

"I don't work all the time," Ranger said.

"Oh yeah? When was the last break you took?"

"Last night," Ranger said, his eyes dark.

"That doesn't count," I told him.

"It most definitely counts. I only spend time on the things that are important to me," Ranger said."Spending time with you is important to me. Keeping my businesses running smoothly is important to me. I don't need a lot of free time, or time off for a vacation when what I want is right here."

I think my heart got a little squishy hearing that.

I was in a Rangeman uniform so I couldn't come across as sexy as I'd like, but I did have some moves. And I really felt like using them. I crossed my legs, swinging my foot in a flirty way, and leaned back a little giving Ranger a good view of my chest in my tight black T-shirt.

"Are you saying that you don't want to go on vacation with me?"

Ranger smiled, knowing exactly what I was up to."What's the point in going somewhere, Babe? We wouldn't leave the room long enough to see anything besides each other."

I hadn't thought of that, but it was probably the truth."What would we be doing together if not sight-seeing?" I asked him.

Ranger was on his feet in front of me. He wrapped his hands around my waist and slid me to the edge of the desk. My legs came uncrossed and I was suddenly pressed fully against the front of him.

"I have some suggestions," Ranger said, against my mouth."Would you like me to show them to you?"

My voice stuck in my throat, but I managed to get out the only word Ranger needed."Yes."

His hands caught my thighs and lifted me. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he carried me to the bedroom. By the end of the night I was in favor of _any_ idea, suggestion, or position, Ranger could come up with.

Two things surprised me the following morning. The sound of my phone ringing in the other room. And Ranger still in bed with me. I lifted my head from Ranger's chest and looked at the bedside clock. Seven-thirty. Late for Ranger. Too early for me.

Ranger's arms came around me and he kissed my curls."Ignore it," he said.

The phone had stopped ringing, but automatically started again."I can't," I said to Ranger.

I wriggled out of his arms, slid his discarded T-shirt over my head, and headed for the front hall and my phone.

I checked the number, and blew out a sigh. My mother. I knew I wasn't going to like the conversation, since she doesn't normally call me this early. But on the off chance there was a family emergency, I hit the call back button and braced myself.

"Stephanie," my mother said,"what took you so long answering the phone? We have a lot to do today."

Did I miss something?

"We do?" I asked, confused.

"Yes," my mother said."Honestly, do you think a wedding plans itself?"

Uh-oh. This is what I'd been afraid of. My mother trying to take over. She wanted a large wedding and the Polish National Hall for the reception. I wanted a small wedding and maybe a barbeque in the backyard.

"I can't talk now," I told my mother. Which was sort of the truth. I couldn't talk about the type of wedding she wanted without breaking out into hives."I'll stop by later," I promised. Unless something better came along. Like having to hunt down a homicidal maniac.

I hung up and made my way back to the bedroom. Ranger was awake, still in bed, waiting for me. I took a moment to appreciate the view before I climbed over him to get back to my side. Well, I tried to climb over Ranger but when my body slid over his, his arms circled me and held me where I was.

"Who was on the phone?" Ranger asked.

I grimaced."My mother."

"Should I ask?"

"No. It was just my mother being my mother again." I said."How come you're still in bed?" I asked Ranger."Not that I'm complaining at all, but usually you're out of here by five."

"You were concerned last night with my lack of time off. And since there's nothing right now that I can't get done in a few hours, I thought we'd sleep in. "

I pressed a light kiss against his lips."And that's what you want us to do ... sleep?"

"Not especially. And for what I had in mind," Ranger said, tugging his T-shirt over my head,"you won't be needing this." With his arms still around me, Ranger rolled over taking me with him.

After a quick breakfast in Ranger's little kitchen, I was on the road to the bonds office. I parked at the curb in front of Vinnie's, and saw Lula framed in the big plate glass window. I knew from the way Lula's face was pressed into the glass that she'd been waiting for me. And that the news of yesterday's events had already spread.

I hauled myself out of the car. I wanted to get this over with, but I still couldn't shake the feeling that I was about to face a firing squad.

"Boy," Lula said, when I stepped into the office,"you've only been engaged for one day. I'd hate to see what you'd do if you really wanted to get out of a wedding."

"Getting carjacked wasn't my fault!" I said to her.

"Hey, don't get mad at me. I was only pointing out what a coincidence it was."

"I was just in the wrong place," I said."If I wasn't there it would have happened to the next person who drove down that street." Probably.

Lula shook her head at me."Nuh-uh. I don't think so. It's you. I ain't never seen nothin' like it. And I've seen some weird-ass shit. And the weird never stops, either. First you get Batman to agree to marry you, and then some random loser pulls a gun on you."

"How'd Ranger take it?" Connie asked.

"He wasn't happy," I said.

"I bet. I'm surprised he made it in one piece to the police station," Connie said."Word is that he looked like he got hit by a truck when he finally did, though."

"Yeah," Lula said,"a truck with Rangeman written all over it."

Not something I wanted to think about too much. I was still worried one of the guys would get in trouble on my account.

"I'm heading back to my apartment to pick up a few things," I told Connie."I'll check in with you guys later."

I spotted Morelli's green SUV as soon as I pulled into my lot. Great. This is exactly what I didn't want to have to deal with. If he hadn't already heard about my engagement, he'd know as soon as he saw my hand. I had a quick thought to slide the ring off my finger and hopefully put off what I assumed was going to be a fight, but I couldn't do it. I was done denying what I felt for Ranger.

Morelli's truck was empty, so I walked into my building's front door and took the elevator to the second floor. I saw Joe leaning against the wall next to my apartment when I stepped off the elevator.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him, letting us into my apartment. If I was going to have to do this, I was going to try do it without my neighbors getting a play-by-play. My apartment was far from sound proof, but it was the best I could do.

"I called the bonds office looking for you," Morelli said,"and Connie said you were on your way here."

I dropped my bag on the counter before turning back to Joe."Why were you looking for me?"

"First off, I wanted to make sure you were okay. I was on shift when Mason Dobbs was brought in ..."

"So that's his name," I said, more to myself than to Morelli.

"Yeah, that's his name. He looked like he'd just survived a war so I asked what happened to him, and was told about the carjacking."

"I'm alright," I told him."I crashed the car and got away."

"That's what they told me," Morelli said,"but I wanted to make sure."

That was sweet, I thought. Joe came here to check up on me. I could handle this.

"I also heard something else that I found interesting," Morelli said.

Uh-oh.

"My mother informed me that you got engaged," Joe said, not sounding too friendly now."To Ranger."

"Uh-huh," I said. I know it wasn't the most articulate reply, but it was all I had.

"Explain to me, Steph," Morelli said, his voice still hard,"why you said no to me all those times I'd asked you to marry me, but Ranger pops the question and suddenly you're over your '_commitment issues_.' "

"Do you really want to do this, Joe?" I asked him."Can't you just wish me well and be done with it?" If I didn't already have a slight headache, dealing with Joe would have given me one for sure.

"How can I wish you well on something that will _never happen_. Think, Stephanie, do you really think Ranger is going to marry you?" Joe said, his voice getting louder."You think he's going to stop trying to be Batman _for you_? That he'll stop whatever illegal activities he's involved in and suddenly become a legitimate businessman? A stable husband to you?"

I was starting to get annoyed at Morelli's tone as much as his words.

"That was always the problem with us, Joe," I told him."You think that when someone gets married they have to give up part of themselves to do it. I'm not asking Ranger to change into something he's not. And he's not demanding that I change for him. Not everyone is cut out for the typical 2.5-kids-white-picket-fence kind of marriage. That's what I've been trying to tell you for years. You just didn't want to hear it."

Morelli was hands on hips."I _was_ listening to you, Steph," he said, his voice not at shouting level, but not particularly quiet, either."I know we can work it out. We were good together."

I was sure my eyebrows were going to shoot off my head. Was he serious?

"We couldn't last a month living together without wanting to kill each other," I reminded him."Don't you remember the fights over my job? Or how about the all times you've complained that I couldn't cook? Or the countless times you said you wanted to get married, but weren't sure if you wanted to be married to _me_? Does any of that ring a bell?"

Morelli's mouth thinned."I didn't mean it," he said.

"You sure sounded like you meant it at the time," I told him, not backing down."You have a set idea of what a good wife is supposed to be stuck in your head and you kept trying to force me into the role. I'm never going to be my mother. Or _your_ mother. I'm sorry if it took this to make you realize that, but I am going to marry Ranger. I'd hoped we could still be friends, but I understand if you can't."

Joe caught my shoulders in his hands and looked down at me."Don't go through with this, Cupcake," he said."You know as well as I do that it's a mistake ..."

I shrugged loose of his hold and narrowed my eyes at him."Marrying Ranger is not a mistake!" I all but shouted. So much for my caring about nosy neighbors."The mistake was thinking that you could stop talking down to me for a minute, let alone be happy for me."

Morelli took a step toward me."Steph, listen ..."

I held my hand up."I've listened to all that I'm going to," I told him.

There was a loud knock on my door. Probably Mr. Kleinschmidt wanting us to shut up so he could enjoy his program in peace. I walked over, looked through the peephole, and groaned. Hal and Lester. Why me?

I opened the door to them."Hey guys," I said."What's up?"

"We were in the neighborhood and decided to drop in and say hi," Lester said.

Yeah, right. Either Connie called Ranger or I'm more monitored than I thought.

Morelli's mouth tightened. He wasn't buying it, either."Give me a fucking break. Ranger knows that I wouldn't hurt Stephanie," he said to Hal and Lester."He didn't have to send out his watchdogs."

Lester took a threatening step forward. I stepped in front of Lester with my hand on his chest."It's okay," I told him."I'm fine. And Morelli was just leaving. Right, Joe?"

"Yeah, I'm going." He paused at the door and looked back at me."When this doesn't work out," Morelli said,"and it can't possible work out, call me and I promise I won't say I told you so." And he was gone.

I blew out a breath and looked at Hal and Lester."How did Ranger know?" I asked them.

"Connie called him," Hal said."She was worried about how Morelli would take things."

Looks like I'll have to have a nice long chat with Connie.

"Ranger was in the middle of a meeting," Lester said,"or he would have come himself."

Oh yeah, that would have really turned out well. Morelli and Ranger have always managed to be polite and indifferent while working together for the common good, aside from that, it was a clash of testosterone.

"_None_ of you needed to come over," I said."Morelli was right. He would never hurt me."

"We could hear yelling before we even reached your door," Lester said."And he looked pretty pissed to me when we got here."

"Yes," I said, my eyebrows raised,"because _you guys _were here!"

"So," Lester said, changing the subject,"you and Ranger are really engaged? We saw the ring, but we still couldn't believe it."

"Yep, we're engaged."

"Excuse me for saying so," Hal said,"but I never thought I'd see the day the Ranger would get married."

Me either, I thought.

"But after meeting you, I knew if anyone had the power to ball-and-chain him," Lester said,"it would be you."

I wasn't sure I liked the sound of that."Ball-and-chain him?" I asked.

"You know ... the old saying_ 'strapping on the 'ol ball and chain' _when a guy gets hitched.

Jeez. First, according to Grandma, I_ landed _him. Now I've _ball-and-chained _him. I guess no one stopped to think about the fact that_ Ranger _proposed to _me? _

I glared at him, but it wasn't having the desired effect. Not only wasn't Lester looking apologetic, he also wasn't leaving. Neither was Hal. Something was up. Usually once their mission was complete; the mission this time obviously making sure Morelli left my apartment, the guys would head back to Rangeman. Today they weren't budging. My glare turned into an eyebrow raise.

"Ranger wanted us to follow you back to Rangeman," Lester said, correctly interpreting my look.

What, like Morelli was going to turn around and come right back? I planned on talking to Ranger about this, right after I talked to Connie, but I didn't want to give the guys a hard time so I just nodded my head."Give me a minute," I said."There's a couple things I need to pick up."

Ranger told me the distraction job was set for tonight. I had some clothes at Rangeman, but I didn't have everything that I might need there. I left Hal and Lester in the living room and went to my bedroom to pack a small bag. I wasn't exactly sure what I would wear yet, so I threw as many clothes as I could stuff into it.

Lester took it from me immediately when I came back into the living room. See, Stephanie, there are some benefits to having muscle following you around, I thought. I knew Morelli'd give me a little space before he tried talking to me again, but since Rex wasn't here there'd be one less reason to stop here and run into Joe when he did show up again.

Thinking along those lines, I decided at the last minute to pack another bag of my every day stuff. I disappeared back into the bedroom after a quick, _'be right back' _to the guys. When I came out of my bedroom the second time with another full bag, Hal was there this time taking it from me.

"This is ridiculous," I said to them."I am physically capable of carrying _something_."

"Not while we're here, you're not," Lester said.

Hey, I tried. If they wanted to cart my crap around, who was I to argue? I guess it was sweet of them in a slightly chauvinistic way.

Lester and Hal dropped my bags into the backseat of my car before climbing into their Rangeman SUV. They waited for me to pull out of my lot before practically attaching themselves to my bumper for the ride back to Rangeman.

Hal and Lester parked in the lot where the fleet cars were kept and I continued on, parking in one of Ranger's private spaces in front of the elevator. Ranger was waiting for me when I turned the ignition off. Let the interrogation begin, I thought. I slung my purse over my shoulder, grabbed my things from the back, and made my way over to him. He met me halfway, took the stuff out of my hands, and gave me a welcome home kiss that I could definitely get used to before ushering me into the elevator. He hit seven and I blinked up at him, trying to get my eyes to refocus after that kiss. And to think, I get to look forward to that kind of kiss every day for the rest of my life.

"Aren't you supposed to be in a meeting?" I asked him.

"It wrapped ten minutes ago," Ranger said, wrapping an arm around my waist.

Good timing. I really didn't want to see a Ranger and Morelli confrontation.

"Why are you waiting down here for me?"

"I wanted to talk to you."

"Oh yeah? What did you want to talk about?" I asked him. I knew the answer of course, but I didn't mind delaying it as long as I could.

"Morelli." Ranger said.

"Morelli?" I asked, like I couldn't figure out why he'd want to talk about Joe.

"Stephanie," Ranger said, with a hint of warning in his voice.

Uh-oh, my full name, I thought, this wasn't looking good. I was saved by the elevator stopping and the door opening to the seventh floor.

Ranger let us into the apartment. I put my shoulder bag on the sideboard and Ranger went ahead of me, bringing my things to the bedroom. If it had been me, and my apartment, I would have dropped the bags next to the door and spent the next week tripping over them and kicking them out of my way. But here in Ranger's apartment, everything had to be in order. And if Ranger hadn't done it, Ella would have. I was clearly out-numbered here.

Ranger met me in the kitchen.

I looked in at Rex who was busy sleeping in his soup can unaware of anything around him."Are you okay with Rex being here?" I asked Ranger.

"Babe, I knew when I asked you to marry me that you came as a pair."

I rolled my eyes at him."I meant having him here in the kitchen," I said."I know it sounds stupid, but I like eating breakfast and listening to his little feet running on his wheel. Some people might have a problem with a hamster living on their kitchen counter."

"Fortunately," Ranger said,"I'm not one of those people. Rex is welcome to live anywhere he wants to in this apartment."

That's what I thought Ranger would say, but I wanted to make sure. It was, after all, his apartment.

"It's fast becoming _our _apartment, Babe," Ranger said, briefly making me forget about why we were here.

He didn't seem at all bothered by his space being invaded. Ranger was taking this whole marriage thing as easily as he took everything else. No second guessing himself, no nerves, no doubts. The fact that marrying me didn't make him the least bit unsure, made me believe that maybe we _were_ meant for each other. No one else on earth had the calming effect on me that Ranger does.

"What happened with Morelli?" Ranger asked, getting back to the conversation that I was hoping to not have. That seems like something I've thought a lot lately."Connie called me and said Morelli was looking for you, and that he was heading over to your apartment. And Lester told me he could hear you yelling when he and Hal got there."

Lester and Connie both had big mouths as far as I was concerned. I didn't know who I blamed more for having to have this conversation. Connie for calling Ranger or Lester for tattling. And I noticed that Connie forgot to mention that she was the one who told Morelli where I'd be in the first place.

I went to the fridge and pulled out two bottles of water and handed one to Ranger. I would have preferred a beer, but I knew Ranger didn't drink when he was working.

"Morelli was at the station when the guys brought in Dobbs," I told Ranger."When Joe heard that I was involved, he wanted to check and make sure I was all right."

Ranger almost raised an eyebrow. He knew I was trying to get out of saying more.

"And you were yelling because he was concerned about your safety?" Ranger asked.

"Umm ... yeah?" My voice making it sound like a question.

"Steph ..."

"Okay," I said,"so he may have also been concerned about other stuff that was none of his business."

"He heard about us getting engaged," Ranger said.

"Yep. His mother told him."

"And I take it he wasn't happy?" Ranger said.

"Nope. He definitely wasn't happy."

"What did he say?"

"Does it matter?" I asked him.

"Yes."

I blew out a sigh."He said that I was crazy to think that you'd marry me ..."

There was a slight narrowing of Ranger's eyes at the insult."He said that to you?"

"He didn't mean it in quite the way it sounded," I said, trying to smooth things over."He meant that even if you did marry me, you would always have a dangerous lifestyle. And that our marriage would never be normal."

"And your response to that was ... ?"

"The truth," I said."That I don't think a person has to change who they are for another person. And that I wasn't going to try to make you into someone you're not, and you weren't going to insist I change who I am for you."

"Why would I want to change you?" Ranger said.

"Do you want me to make a list?" I asked him, incredulous, surprised that he would have to ask."For starters, my job ..."

"Babe," Ranger said,"there's nothing wrong with your job."

My eyebrows almost shot off my forehead."You've got to be kidding?"

"I'm not kidding," Ranger said."You have a respectable job," I snorted at that one, but Ranger ignored it and kept talking."A job that you're, for the most part, good at ..."

Okay that was too much. I was definitely not a good bounty hunter. Lucky and persistent, maybe, but definitely not good.

"Sometimes they equal the same thing," Ranger said.

"Stop reading my mind," I told him."And it's not just my job. What about my history of destroying anything that I drive? Or the way psychos are automatically drawn to me, or my family, or my lack of wanting a typical-husband-plus-a-couple-of-kids kind of life?"

"None of those are bad things," Ranger said."Except for maybe your family and the psychos. The psychos I can work with, since I own a security company. And I've become expert at guarding_ your _body in particular."

"And my family?"

"Not much I can do much about your family, Babe," Ranger said."You come from a scary gene pool."

"You'll do fine with my family as long as I make Grandma Mazur keep her hands to herself."

Ranger almost grimaced.

I thought that thought alone was enough to get out of anymore talk about Joe, but I should know better by now. Nothing distracts Ranger when he wants something, except for maybe me being naked. And even then, Ranger would wait only until I was boneless and satisfied before getting back to what he wanted in the first place. I wondered if that would be an option now, or if he had to leave to go back to work. I must have spent too much time debating, because Ranger broke the silence.

"I get the feeling that you're not telling me something." Ranger said, studying me.

Damn ESP, I thought.

"Steph?"

"It's not important."

"I'll be the judge of that," Ranger said.

Shit."If I tell you, you have to promise not to do something stupid and macho."

Ranger leaned against the counter, arms crossed over his chest, staring at me, not promising anything.

"Joe told me not to go through with the wedding," I said on a rush."And thought that he and I were good together. And that we could make it work if we both tried a little harder."

It felt like all the air got sucked out of the room. Ranger's eyes were definitely narrowed now.

Uh-oh. I realized too late that I should have held out for the promise of him not doing anything stupid and macho.

I walked up to where he was standing against the counter, uncrossed his arms, and leaned into him. His arms came around me instantly, holding me tight against him.

"I only told you what Joe said to prove that it doesn't mean anything to me," I said."I'm not interested in him in that way. Nor could I ever be again, now that I've experienced what a real relationship is like with you. That's what I was yelling about. I couldn't believe he didn't remember how impossible it was for us to live together. He seems to have conveniently forgotten about all the bad stuff we went through, and I felt like I needed to remind him."

Ranger looked like he was thinking about smiling.

"Stop smiling," I told him."It wasn't fun to have to list the reasons why you were a nightmare to live with."

"You're not a nightmare to live with, Babe," Ranger said, kissing me lightly on the lips."You were just living with the wrong person."

I smiled."And I've found the right person, now?" I asked.

"Yes."

"How can you be sure?" I asked him. Serious.

"We're more alike than you think," Ranger said."We both sometimes need quiet to work some things out. We don't much care about what other people think about us as long as we're doing what we think is right. We're work-oriented ..."

"_I'm_ definitely not a work-a-holic," I reminded him.

"Maybe not in the same way," Ranger said,"but if there's a case you're working on, and something doesn't feel right, you won't stop until you figure it out no matter who tells you to back off."

This was true.

Ranger continued."And there won't be any fighting over household chores, because I have Ella."

That was one problem.

"That's just it. You pay Ella to take care of this place, not to cater to me."

"If you weren't already a part of Rangeman," Ranger said,"you would be now. And Ella looks after everyone and everything here. Pets included."

I looked up at Ranger."Ella is _not_ going to have to take care of my hamster. Rex is_ my _responsibility."

Ranger's lips twitched."You're worried about not being mother material, and yet you're going all crazy over a hamster."

"Rex isn't just a hamster," I said.

"I know, Babe." Ranger said."But you don't have to worry about not feeling maternal. You have all the instincts of a mama bear."

I thought about what we talked about in his office. Ranger didn't seem as nervous about possible children as I was."So you're not opposed to having kids?" I asked him.

"I'd rather not have any right now," Ranger said to me."But if something happened to change that ... then no, I'm not opposed to the idea."

I was nowhere near ready; if I ever would be, to have a kid. I take my pills religiously, but it was nice to know that I wouldn't have to go crazy if I was one of the few women who happened to get pregnant while taking them and had to tell Ranger about it. I'd probably be more freaked out then he would be, too.

"We don't have to have everything figured out right now," Ranger said."We agree on the major issues and that's all that's important."

"You really think it's that simple, don't you?"

"Steph, not everything is as complicated as you make it out to be."

Easy for him to say. He didn't have years of self-doubt tagging along after him.

"Stop thinking so much, Babe," Ranger said."We've already covered everything that you and Morelli broke up over."

I thought about that for a beat."We did, didn't we?"

"Yes," Ranger said."I have no problems with your job ... as long as it's something you can take on and isn't too dangerous. And you agree to taking one of the guys with you if I think it is."

"I can live with that," I said, since Ranger sent a guy with me anyway.

Ranger continued."And I obviously don't mind you associating with me."

That made me laugh. I've done a lot more than _associate_ with him."What else?"

"We both agree that now isn't the best time to start a family if we decided we wanted to, so I don't expect you to quit your job to raise our children. Which you wouldn't have to do anyway if you decided that you wanted kids, because you could always do office work here while you were pregnant."

That made sense. And I liked the idea. That way I could be independent and still stay safe. I wasn't the type of person to want someone paying my way, even if he was my husband.

"And we already discussed Ella, so the only household decisions will be about what time we want to go to bed."

And now I was back to the associating. It's amazing the effect he still had on me. With just one word, or one look, and I go into meltdown mode. And I had a sneaky suspicion that we wouldn't be arguing about our bedtime. That seemed to be something we completely agreed on.

"Anything else I need to know before I head back to five?" Ranger asked.

"Lester has a big mouth."

"Already knew that, Babe."

"That I'm lucky to be the woman you want to marry?"

"Some might argue that _I'm_ the lucky one, Steph," Ranger said, smiling.

Not likely.

"I think we've covered everything then," I said. I didn't bother mentioning him having Hal and Lester follow me here. I knew it wouldn't do any good. He usually had a logical reason, one that you couldn't disagree with, for doing whatever it was it the first place.

Ranger kissed me again and eased away from me."I have some more work to do, but I'll be up for dinner and I'll fill you in on the job for tonight."

"Sounds good," I said. I needed to figure out what to wear anyway.

I walked with Ranger to the door, kissed him goodbye, and went to the bedroom to sort through my clothes.


	4. Chapter 4

**All familiar characters and phrases belong to Janet. The mistakes are mine. Warnings for some smut.**

**Chapter 4**

The next two hours passed in a blur of discarded clothes before I finally made a decision. I checked out the time and still had an hour before Ranger would be back, so I decided to take a shower and get dressed early for the job. I smiled thinking about how I hoped Ranger responded to what I'd be wearing. After all, he's always creating havoc with my hormones, it would be nice to get some payback.

I wrapped myself in a towel when I stepped out, and starting on my hair. I used a hair dryer and a round brush to create big loose curls, then changed into a red top made from slinky, slightly sheer fabric with a deep cowl neck in front and an almost non-existent back, paired with black low rise pencil jeans. I was trying to make up my mind between the jeans and a little black skirt, but the jeans won out. I didn't want to think about something going wrong and having the skirt end up over my head. I'd have a hard enough time running in heels, never mind worrying about my ass being on display, too. I finished off the look with a pair of black boots with five inch heels and a wrap around buckle on the side. As Lula would say, the boots were hot!

I checked myself out in Ranger's mirror and thought I did pretty good. Everything was covered, with the exception of my back. And I still looked respectable, if in a slightly slutty way. I couldn't wait to see Ranger's reaction.

I heard the apartment door open and keys hit in the tray by the door. Guess I don't have to wait to find out if he approves. With one last glance in the mirror, I went to meet Ranger.

When I stepped in the kitchen, Ranger had his back to me dropping some files and his Glock onto the counter.

"I brought up the file on Donald Rolson for you to look over," Ranger said, his back still to me.

I walked further into the room."Sure," I told him."I can read it while we eat."

Ranger turned towards me and went still. His eyes started at my sexy hair and slowly took in my body. The little hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and I swear the air in the room changed. This was better than I hoped for. Unfortunately, I hadn't thought about the effect Ranger's reaction would have on _me_. My legs felt a little unsteady, and my heart was pounding a little too hard to be considered normal. So much for revenge.

Ranger still hadn't said anything. And I went from feeling confident, to feeling uneasy. I cleared my throat and smoothed my hands down my jeans in a nervous gesture."Is this okay?" I asked him.

Ranger's eyes finally came back to my face, and I could see that they'd darkened considerably.

Okay, he likes the look, I said to myself, but that doesn't mean he'll want me to wear it out. And he hasn't even seen the back of it yet.

"Babe, you look beautiful," Ranger said."I just don't think I should let you go out anywhere in that."

I put my hands on my hips, and raised an eyebrow at him."Let me?"

Ranger smiled, and pulled me to him."Poor choice of words, Steph," Ranger said."Maybe we should put off the catching Rolson until tomorrow and we can stay in tonight."

I had noticed that the extra height from my boots put Ranger and I at almost the same height. And all our important parts were touching.

"That doesn't sound like a good business decision," I said to Ranger."And besides, what reason would you give the guys for not going after your FTA tonight?"

"If they saw you in this outfit, I wouldn't have to explain anything. They'd understand."

I pushed back from him and rolled my eyes."Men!"

Ranger laughed and reached for me again. I side-stepped him and turned towards the counter.

"Babe ..."

Oh yeah, my exposed back. Maybe there was a chance we wouldn't be leaving here tonight after all.

I didn't hear footsteps, but suddenly Ranger's hand settled on the back of my neck, while his other hand brushed the length of my spine.

"I'm going to have fun with this when we get back home tonight," Ranger whispered against my ear.

My body involuntarily shivered at the feel of his warm breath tickling my ear. Guess he was just kidding about staying home. I should have known. Ranger always had the upper hand. Whether it be in business, in dealing with people, or fighting overactive hormones.

To get my mind off my body and what Ranger could be doing to it, I grabbed the files he had dropped onto the counter and flipped one open."Is this our guy?" I asked Ranger.

"Yes," Ranger said."Donald Rolson. He's not as dangerous as some of the skips we go after, but he's definitely not a saint, either."

"What'd he do?"

"He was arrested for vehicular homicide," Ranger said."Claims it was an accident, but it's hard to accidentally run over someone three times."

"Jeez," I said. I'd probably be okay, though, as long as I didn't let him anywhere near a car, I thought.

"You're just getting him out of the building, Babe," Ranger said."And Vince and Bobby will be inside the bar with you the entire time."

I just nodded looking at Rolsons' picture. He wasn't a bad looking guy, but he didn't exactly look nice. He had hard little eyes, a nose that slightly crooked to one side, indicating that it'd been broken at least once. Probably with good reason. Slicked back brown hair. And a smarmy smile showing large veneered teeth. And now I get to flirt with him. Lucky me.

"There's still time to get someone else to do this," Ranger said to me.

The skank from earlier? Not going to happen. I blew out a sigh."I told you that I wanted the job. And I intend to keep it," I said. I wasn't giving him any reason to call the bimbo in. Okay, so I didn't know for sure that she was a bimbo, or a skank for that matter, but it made me feel better to refer to her as one. I can be very mature at times.

"That's what I thought you'd say," Ranger said. And I had a feeling he was aware of my skank and bimbo thoughts, too. Damn ESP."Steph, I don't want you to do this just because you think you have to. You've said that you still want to do the distraction jobs for us. And I'm not going to go behind your back and replace you. If you feel you need to sit this one out, no one is going to think less of you for doing it. Don't choose stubbornness over your health."

"I admit that I _was_ a little pissed thinking that you were going to ask someone else to do my job." See, I didn't say 'skank' this time. Maybe I _am_ maturing.

"I was only thinking about how your head was feeling," Ranger said, quietly."I should have thought more about how the rest of you would feel about me not asking you about the job before bringing in someone else to do it in case you couldn't."

"I forgive you," I said, leaning forward and kissing him lightly."We're still figuring this out, Ranger. But if we both agree to talk about things before reacting to them, I think we'll be okay."

"Like going to your parents' house?" Ranger said.

I cringed."Yeah, like that," I said. I messed up, but the difference was that this time I admitted it to myself as well as to Ranger."Now we're even. We can start with a clean slate."

"Whatever makes you happy, Babe."

I smiled."_You_ make me happy," I told him.

"Until the day I die, Babe."

I was about to kiss him again but someone knocked on the door. Saved by the housekeeper.

Ranger went to the door, took the tray from Ella and came back into the kitchen. I helped dish up the food then settled myself next to Ranger at the bar and continued reading the file on Rolson.

We didn't talk much while we were eating except for me asking a question about the case and Ranger answering it.

"So how are we doing this?" I asked Ranger when we were finished dinner and I'd closed the file.

"He usually shows up at the bar around ten-thirty, stays for two hours, then leaves for round two at a different bar. We want to catch him before he gets drunk at bar number one. We could still pick him up if he does leave, but he'll be intoxicated and it will make for a much more difficult capture."

"So we should be leaving here at ten?" I asked.

"Yes," Ranger said."Bobby and Vince will be there before Rolson shows up. They'll call us when he enters the bar then you'll take over."

"Sounds like a plan," I said. It was only a little after seven. I had three hours before we had to leave."What do we do until it's time to leave?"

Ranger gave my outfit another full body scan."I know what I'd like to do," Ranger said, his mouth almost smiling,"but I have to head back downstairs."

I tried not to be disappointed at hearing that, but if we were to do what we both obviously wanted to do, it would have destroyed the hair I'd just spent an hour on. Of course, it would have been worth it ...

"Babe," Ranger said, his voice sounding husky.''You need to stop having those thoughts. I have stuff to do and you're making it difficult to leave."

"Hey," I said,"it's not my fault. I didn't ask you to read my should stop doing it if it's so distracting."

Ranger stood, and wrapped me in his arms."You _are_ distracting. But in a very good way."

He kissed me, very thoroughly I might add, and grabbed his gun off the counter, sliding it into the waistband of his cargo pants before going back down to his office on five.

Ranger collected me at ten minutes to ten. He locked up the apartment and I could feel his eyes on me as I walked to the elevator.

"What?" I asked him.

"Just enjoying the view, Babe."

The doors opened and we stepped inside."It's not like you haven't seen it all before," I said to him.

He hit the button for the garage before pulling me close."True," Ranger said, his hand sliding over my ass."But what you're wearing tonight is showcasing your _assets_ perfectly."

I rolled my eyes at him, but was smiling. I can't cook. I hate to exercise. I can't keep a car in one piece. And I'm not that great at my job. All of these things I can deal with as long as I know that once in a while, with a little effort, I can look really hot. And knowing that Ranger can't seem to keep his eyes, or hands, off of me also helps. That and the fact that Ranger thinks about every part of me more than any man I've ever been with. Whether it's my bruised head, my hurt feelings, or my tightly encased ass, Ranger was all over it.

"Your attention should be on catching your skip tonight," I told him,"not on my body."

"Babe," Ranger said against my ear,"my attention is always on your body one way or another."

Oh boy."I can see now why you didn't do relationships, if you lose all your focus over a pair of jeans," I said.

I could feel Ranger smile against me."Not just any pair of jeans ... yours."

My smile got bigger, but the elevator opened before I could show Ranger how happy I was to hear that. Imagine Ranger, the badass bounty hunter, driven to distraction by little ol' Stephanie Plum from the Burg. I know Ranger loves me, but it's still nice to hear that I affect him almost as much as he does me.

Ranger moved his hand from my butt to my waist and guided me to where Tank and Hal were standing by Ranger's car. Tank was studiously keeping his eyes on my face, not daring to move them below my chin. And Hal was making a visible effort to look anywhere but at me. I guess this would be one of the other reasons Ranger wouldn't want the woman he was about to marry working a distraction job. He didn't want to have to shoot any of his men for looking inappropriately at me. Not that I thought he would ... but it_ was _Ranger, and you could never be sure what he was capable of.

"Bobby just called," Tank said to Ranger."He and Vince are already settled at a table. No sign of Rolson yet."

Ranger looked at his watch."Still early," he said, looking back at Tank."Call me when he gets there. I don't want Steph to be inside the bar any longer than necessary."

I wasn't about to argue, since I didn't want to be in there any longer than necessary, either.

Tank gave us a nod then he and Hal climbed into a Rangeman SUV, and took off ahead of us.

Ranger opened the passenger door for me before angling behind the wheel of the Turbo. He plugged the key into the ignition and drove out of the garage.

Ranger was in his usual zone while driving, so to say the short drive was quiet would have been an understatement. But the interesting part was that he had my hand tucked securely in his, resting them both on his thigh while driving, only letting go long enough to change gears when needed. And he was absently brushing his thumb back and forth over my fingers. I never knew fingers could be an erogenous zone. Then again, Ranger could make any part of your body an erogenous zone. Ranger had always been _hands on _when dealing with me, even when I was with Morelli, but this was different. He was holding my hand just because he wanted the contact, not because he wanted to get me into bed. Well ... he still wanted me in his bed, but it's no longer the motive for touching me. In the beginning it took some getting used to, but I'm starting to notice the differences in our working, and personal, relationship. And needless to say, I'm really starting to like the change in it.

Ranger pulled to the curb in front of an old brick factory building three doors down from the bar. His phone rang and Ranger listened just long enough to hear that Rolson was inside the building. Ranger let go of my hand, leaned forward, and kissed me.

"Go get him, Babe," he said when he pulled back.

I smiled at him, feeling brave for the first time today."I guess I have to take this off now," I said to Ranger, holding up my left hand. An engagement ring wouldn't help me pick up a guy in a bar. I slid my ring off and handed it to Ranger "Keep this safe for me. I want it back on my finger when this guy's in cuffs."

"We'll both be waiting for you," Ranger said, and slipped the ring into one of the pockets of his cargo pants.

I left Ranger and started walking towards the bar. I spotted Lester standing against a shot out street light. I gave him a small nod as I passed.

The bar itself was a grungy little brick building with painted out windows, and cigarette smoke oozing out of the door when it was opened. The message was clear. If you cared at all about your health, you would keep on walking. Not reassuring. I couldn't just keep walking since I told Ranger I was doing this, but I was going to try real hard not to breathe at all while I was in there.

I noticed Cal standing by one of the cars in front of the bar. I was effectively sandwiched between Rangemen. Not counting Ranger, Tank, and Hal who were out here somewhere keeping an eye on me.

The front door of the bar was pushed open and I had no excuse to not go in. The guy held the door for me, gave my body an appreciative glance before walking away. Yep, I thought, I've still got it.

I walked into the bar and took a minute to let my eyes adjust. There wasn't much adjusting time needed, though. Between the low-watt lighting, and the cigarette smoke haze, the inside wasn't a whole lot brighter than the outside was since the majority of the street lights were out.

I scanned the room looking for Ranger's skip. I didn't see Rolson, or much of anything else. The bar was pretty well deserted, so I sat down and ordered a beer from the bartender who came up to me. I wanted to order something stronger, but I didn't want to mix booze with the four aspirin I'd choked down while I was getting ready. I was usually at a disadvantage when it came to catching skips and having the lingering effects of getting pistol-whipped definitely wasn't going to help. While barely sipping my beer, I turned on the stool so my back was to the bar and I could look over the room for Rolson without being too obvious. I spotted him three tables back, two away from where Bobby and Vince were sitting trying to look inconspicuous. If they were in any other place that could have been a problem. But here, with the barely there lights and dangerous vibe of the place, they fit right in.

After a couple of unsuccessful attempts I finally made eye contact with Donald. I tried out my best flirty smile, hoping it didn't come off looking like a grimace instead. It must have worked because Rolson smiled back and wasted no time ditching the guy he was with to cross the room to me.

Ugh! Here we go, I thought. Ignore all wanting to gag feelings and just get the job done. He came up on my right, standing way too close, smelling like he'd hit the sauce longer than he'd hit the shower. I plastered a smile on my face, and turned to him.

"Hi," I said. I know, it wasn't the most interesting conversation starter, but I was still trying not to breathe if I could help it.

"Hi," he said back."I couldn't help but notice that you're not here with anyone. No one as beautiful as you are should be alone. Can I buy you a drink?"

That might have sounded sweet if we weren't in a bar. And he wasn't who he was. I tried to look interested while not looking directly at his fake smile. I was afraid it was something like an eclipse; that if you look at directly at it, it'll burn your retinas.

I nodded at my still full beer, getting back to the task at hand."I've got one," I said to Rolson."But thanks for asking."

"Since I can't buy you a drink, will you at least allow me the pleasure of keeping you company?"

My first thought was _ick. _My second thought was this job might go better than I hoped.

"I'd like that," I said to him."But what about your friend?" I asked, looking back to the table he'd left. His friend smiled and then winked at Rolson. Ulk!

Rolson turned back to me."He'll be fine. So what's your name?" He asked me.

I had to make up my mind on whether to give my real name, or risk getting caught in a lie by not answering to a made up one. I decided to use my first name, but not giving him a last one.

"Stephanie."

He took my hand in his, holding it tighter than I would have liked."Donald."

"Nice to meet you," I said. Might as well get the small talk out of the way."So, Donald, what do you do?"

"Oh ... a little bit of this, and a little bit of that."

That was helpful.

"How 'bout you?" He asked me.

"I'm a lingerie buyer," I told him. It wasn't a complete lie. I was a buyer a long time ago. Plus I've found this answer works on most of the skips I try to get out of bars. It seems the common denominator was that all men liked hearing about womens' underwear.

Right on cue Donald's eyes lit up and he leaned in close to me."You buy sexy underwear for a living?"

Yep, works like a charm."Umm-hmm."

Now that I had his undivided attention, I just had to figure out how to get him and me out the door. Then I'd be free to go back to Ranger's apartment and take a long hot shower. I was pretty sure whatever dirty thoughts he was thinking right then were going to rub off onto me if I didn't hurry.

"What kinds of stuff did you buy today?"

"You know the usual stuff, thongs, lacy bras ... garter belts."

I was presented with a full view of all Rolsons' teeth when he gave me a blinding smile.

This was almost too easy, I thought to myself. Now onto getting him outside. I had two choices. Make a fool of myself and ask if he wanted to dance on what the bar laughingly considered a dance floor, then ask him to walk me to my car. Or check out the dart game at the back of the bar, then ask him for a ride home. I chose option number one, just because I didn't want to go any further into the bar than I already was. And I didn't want to attract too much attention from anyone else. Not that I looked like a supermodel or anything, but a drunk crowd mixed with skimpy clothes was never a good idea.

I gave Rolson a small smile."Would you like to dance?" I asked. Just in case he decided to say no I added a little guilt."It feels like forever since I'd been out. I'd been with my boyfriend for five years. He never wanted to go out and do anything, and I wasn't ready to settle down, so I finally dumped him. Now I have _a lot _of _things_ to make up for."

"He must be stupid to not want to show off a woman like you."

"That's what I said! Except, I may have called him something besides stupid."

"He deserved it."

"Thank you for that," I said, looking towards the dirty little floor."I don't want to talk about him tonight. I've wasted to much time on him already."

"How about that dance then?" Rolson asked, as he stood.

Maybe he wasn't so sleazy, I thought, as I slid off the barstool. I mean, he's been pretty good so far.

My opinion of him changed as I felt his arm go around me, and his hand settle on my lower back. I was seriously rethinking my choice of tops. It seem like a good option at the time, but with any other shirt in my closet I would have had at least some material between my bare back and this creep's sweaty hand. And if that wasn't bad enough, the hand was starting to move lower. Shit! Now what do I do? I wasn't about to get felt up by a creepy, possibly drunk FTA, but I didn't want to create a scene, either.

I went with my standard move for getting me out of these types of situations ... I faked a stumble. When he tried to help right me, my elbow accidentally; okay, I did it on purpose, came into direct contact with his face.

"Oh, no," I said, with a lot of fake concern."Did I hit you? I'm so sorry." Not! And now I had a perfect excuse for going outside with him, and not having to worry about his wandering hands.

"I'm okay," Rolson said, trying to stem the flow of blood coming from his nose.

"But you're bleeding," I said."My car is parked right out front. Let me take you to the emergency room, since this was all my fault." Sometimes I was so good I scared myself. I'd added a slight tremor to my voice and hoped he didn't pick up on how desperate I was to get him outside. He must not have noticed, because walked slowly behind me to the front of the bar.

The second Rolsons' ass cleared the doorway, we were flanked by Rangemen. Ranger, Tank, and Lester, all stared at Rolson for a beat. Then looked over at me. Donald was bent slightly over with blood dripping continuously from his nose.

"Shit," Lester said, taking Rolson from me and cuffing him.

"Babe," Ranger said, raising an eyebrow at me."What happened?"

"He grabbed my ass," I said to Ranger, not feeling all that bad about it,"so I kind of broke his nose."

"Used to be you'd just knee the guy in the balls," Ranger said.

"Those were the good ol' days," I told him.

"He do anything else?" Ranger asked. His expression not giving anything away.

"Nope. I told you that I can handle myself in these kinds of situations."

"That may be true," Ranger said."But I'll feel better after I _deal _with Mr. Rolson myself."

I rolled my eyes at him.

Tank and Lester were standing with Donald, not far from us.

"Hey Boss," Lester said, clearly wanting in on any action."You want us to break something else? A hand? A couple fingers?"

I shot a look at Lester, but he wasn't intimidated at all, the jerk. Rolson was silent next to them, glaring at me. Obviously not liking the fact that I had tricked him, but he was smart enough not to say what he was thinking out loud. He may have had a little to drink, but he didn't have a death wish.

"Steph," Ranger said to me."Why don't you wait for me in the Turbo."

I narrowed my eyes at him."Why?"

Ranger did the eyebrow thing again. I blew out a sigh."Fine."

I was about ten feet away from them when I heard a crunch, and a groan of pain. I was pretty sure it didn't come from one of Ranger's men. I guess I should feel bad, but I wasn't exactly a fan of having my ass grabbed by a complete stranger. If Ranger was doing the grabbing, that would have been a completely different story. One I definitely wouldn't have had any problem with.

I slid into the passenger seat of the Turbo, and watched as Vince and Bobby joined Ranger. Bobby was talking, gesturing a lot with his arm, and I was pretty sure it had something to do with me and Rolsons' nose.

When Bobby was done, Ranger headed for me and the Turbo, while Tank and Lester led Rolson to a waiting SUV. Vince and Bobby disappeared into the darkness where I assumed their vehicle was parked. Good. I'm glad that my part in this job was over and I didn't have to go to the station with them.

Ranger angled behind the wheel and took my ring out of his pocket."This needs to be back where it belongs," Ranger said. What was weird was that I haven't had the ring all that long, but my finger now felt funny without it. Ranger slid the ring back onto my finger before turning the key in the ignition. He pulled away from the curb, and headed back to Rangeman.

"Did you have to do that?" I asked him.

He looked over at me."Do what?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," I said."I already broke his nose, for crying out loud. You didn't have to break anything else."

"Yes," Ranger said, quietly."I did."

I knew that voice. That was the voice he used when he wanted to make a skip wet himself.

"All he did was grab my ass, it's not like he attacked me or anything."

"Babe, it's simple," Ranger said."There are certain rules where I come from. When someone puts their hands on something that belongs to you ... you break their hands."

That seemed a little harsh, but also oddly sweet.

"Are you saying that I belong to you?"

Ranger picked up my hand, and kissed my knuckles."In every way," he said, resting my hand on his thigh.

I thought about this for a minute."That goes both ways, right?" I asked him."I mean, if some tramp tries anything with you, I get to claw her eyes out?"

Ranger looked like he was thinking about smiling."You can break her hand _and_ claw her eyes out, if that will make you happy."

"Good," I said, settling back down."But just remember that your hands aren't safe from the breaking, either."

Ranger stopped at a stop sign, and locked eyes with me."I'm not worried, Babe, because the _only_ place I want my hands are on you."

I _really_ liked the sound of that.

Eight minutes later, he pulled into the Rangeman garage. Bobby, and Vince were already there. No sign of Lester and Tank. Probably it'll be a late night at the cop shop. Ranger opened my door for me, wrapped an arm around my waist, and walked me to the elevator.

He unlocked the apartment door, and followed me in. I took my boots off in the little hallway, not wanting to wait until I was in the bedroom. They may look good, but I was sure they weren't designed for standing any length of time in them. Ranger's clothes, I noticed, were never anywhere beside the bedroom. Well, unless I wanted them off. Fast. Then he was willing to let go of the neat-freak thing. In my defense, though, Ranger had Ella and he didn't have to wear five-inch heels. The fact that I didn't have to wear them either wasn't important. They looked good on me and that's all that mattered.

While I was busy with my thoughts, Ranger had come up behind me, and started pressing a string of kisses down my exposed back, his hands slowly creeping up to my breasts. I leaned my head back against him and relaxed.

"Are you up for this, Steph?" Ranger whispered against my ear.

"It would take more than a blow to the head to make me not want you, Ranger."

I could feel him smile."Thinking about someone hitting you is killing the mood, Babe."

"Sorry. You can get back to what you were doing now. I'm good," I said, and sighed as Ranger's hands slid lower, over my stomach and down to the waistband of my jeans. His fingers worked the button of my jeans, and then they were pushed down over my hips and discarded. Looks like there'll be more than my shoes on the floor at the rate he was going.

Ranger turned me in his arms so that I was facing him, and kissed along my neck and into the deep V of my top. He wasn't touching anything particularly important, but my standing there only in my underwear and shirt in the hall, while he was fully dressed, was turning me on. If I was with anyone other than Ranger, I probably would have felt uncomfortable or somewhat vulnerable. But with him, all I felt was his mouth and his warm breath between my breasts, turning my bones to liquid.

Ranger pulled me closer and kissed me. He was hard everywhere. His chest, his thighs, and _everything_ in between, was hard. Without breaking from the kiss, Ranger grabbed my legs and wrapped them around his waist and started towards the bedroom. My shirt was soon gone, followed by the bra I was afraid he would have had trouble taking off, since it was specifically designed for a backless shirt. I didn't need to worry on that score, because Ranger had it off in seconds, and had also shed his own clothes. His mouth was back on mine and he lowered me down to the mattress. He broke from the kiss, and moved his lips from my mouth to the side of my neck, gently biting the sensitive skin where my neck and shoulder met. I clutched at his back trying to decide between pulling him back to up my mouth, or waiting to see where he went next. I decided to go with waiting. And I wasn't disappointed. My back arched off of the bed when Ranger ran his tongue from between my breasts to my navel, kissed my navel, then licked his way back up over my ribs capturing my nipple in his mouth. He did the tongue thing again to my other breast, but this time his tongue didn't stop at my navel. I could feel his breath against me, and then his mouth. I think I was close to a doomsday orgasm as I've ever gotten before and I could tell that Ranger wasn't even close to being finished with me. I remembered my hands fisting in the sheet, my eyes rolling back in my head while shouting Ranger's name, and then ...nothing.

Ranger was still taking his time exploring my body with his lips, when my eyes finally listened to me and opened. He stopped at any place that made me bite my lip or squirm against him. When he got back to my mouth, he kissed me again and I felt him come inside me. Then it was lights out Stephanie ... again.

I was putting the finishing touches on my makeup the following morning when a pair of muscled arms circled me from behind.

I thought I'd live dangerously this morning and have a little fun."_Lester_, not now, Ranger might catch us." I barely had time to get the words out before the arms around me tightened.

"Not funny, Babe" Ranger said into my ear.

I looked at his reflection in the mirror in front of me. Nope. Ranger didn't look amused."I don't know," I said."I thought it was."

"I doubt Lester would find it funny, either."

This was true. If one of the men thought for a moment that they were involved in a rumor about making a move on the boss' woman, they'd probably shoot themselves just to avoid whatever Ranger had in store for them.

Since Ranger was here, instead of in the kitchen, I knew something was up.

"What's going on?" I asked.

One of Ranger's hands settled on my hip, while the other one splayed across my stomach holding me against him."Tank called when you were in the shower. There's a problem with one of the accounts, so I'm going to grab something from the fifth floor kitchen and head out. I just wanted to let you know. Ella brought breakfast up for you. It's on the bar in the kitchen."

I'm still surprised that Ranger is so willing to tell me where he was going and what he was doing. At least when he can.

I turned my head to look up at him."Okay," I said."And be careful today."

"Now that I have you to come home to, Babe," Ranger said, his head lowering to me,"I always am."

He kissed me, and his hand moved from my belly up to my breast while his tongue curled around mine. Ranger's thumb slid across my nipple and I bit back a moan.

"See you tonight, Babe," he said after the complete assault on my mouth, his voice sounding less than steady. Then he was gone.

You would think that I'd get used to Ranger's hands on me, but it still surprised me how deep my feelings for him were. I gave my heart a moment to calm down and my legs to stop shaking, before following my nose to the kitchen and Ella's cooking.

After I finished breakfast and cleaned up the dishes, I grabbed my shoulder bag and car keys and headed to the elevator. I unlocked my car and and plugged the key into the ignition. After three tries it finally caught. Looks like this car's days were numbered, I thought to myself. Time to start eating more meals at my parents' house and scrounging around for extra cash so I could buy a new one. And by _new_ I mean a horribly abused old one that would only be_ 'new' _to me.


	5. Chapter 5

**I've been trying to stick to my goal of writing holiday stories as they approach so I'm a little behind on my updates. Thanks for sticking with me and this story in spite of it, though. All characters belong to Janet. Any mistakes are mine.**

**Chapter 5**

Connie was at her desk when I walked into the bonds office. I looked around and didn't see Lula taking up her usual spot on the couch.

"Where's Lula?" I asked Connie.

She rolled her eyes."She said she had a date." Connie looked at the clock."I guess it went pretty good, since she ain't here yet."

I didn't want to think about what Lula had been doing to make her late.

"Got anyone for me today?"

Connie picked up a folder."Charlie Braxtin. He's not going to pay your rent this month, but I don't think he'll try to kill you, either."

That was good news, I thought to myself, as I took the folder from Connie. Not so much the money part, but it's always a nice change of pace to go after a skip who won't try to murder me.

The door opened behind me and Lula strolled in. From the smile on her face, I had to agree with Connie that Lula's date had gone well.

"Have fun last night?" I asked her.

"You bet your ass," Lula said, plopping down onto the couch."If it keeps goin' like it did last night, I might get a ring just like _yours_. Well, maybe not just like yours, seein' as how you could buy a small country with the ring you're sportin'."

"How many times have you been out with this guy?" Connie asked her.

"This was our third date," Lula said to her,"but I can tell I got somethin' here."

"You're not going to trick him into proposing, are you?"

Lula narrowed her eyes at me."I'm keep tellin' you, Tank _wanted_ to propose to me, he just needed some motivation."

If that's the way she wanted to remember it, why should I alter her memory with the truth?

"I'm just saying that maybe this time you should wait until _he_ buys the ring and asks you_ himself_."

"You get Batman to propose," Lula said to me,"and suddenly you're a relationship expert?"

Well,_ finally_, someone has come up with something that I've never been called before. I sucked at relationships.

"So where we headed today?" Lula asked me.

"Oh no you don't," Connie said to Lula."You know Vinnie was in a rant yesterday about getting this office organized. You're staying put."

"I don't see why I gotta," Lula said, her lower lip sticking out in a pout.

"Because you were hired to help me, remember?"

"Shit," Lula said."I didn't actually think you'd make me do it. I should've been promoted or something by now."

"Promoted to what?" I asked her.

"I protect your ass all day long, what would you call that?"

Insane, because fifty percent of the time I think I'm safer going out alone. Lula's probably the only other person on earth with worse luck than I have.

"I don't have anybody important to catch today," I told her,"so you won't be missing anything by staying here. Plus you won't have to go very far for lunch. Tasty Pastry, Cluck-in-a-Bucket, McDonalds, and the deli, are all five minutes away.

"You got a point," Lula said, no longer pouting.

I started towards the front door thinking I should go before she thought of another reason not to stay here.

"I'm gonna head out then," I told them, over my shoulder."I'll see you guys later."

I left the bonds office and buckled myself in. I said a brief prayer and started my car. At least, I _tried_ to start my car, but nothing happened. Shit.

Ranger had wanted me to take one of the fleet vehicles, but I always managed to kill whatever he gave me and I didn't want to add another car to the list. Not to mention, I had spent a chunk of my hard earned cash on this car, although an admittedly small chunk, and I was determined to drive the stupid thing for however long it took the engine to completely die. It looked like today it was finally heading to car heaven. Oh well, it'd have plenty of company. I swear there was a whole lot up there set aside just for vehicles owned by me.

I was hoping Ranger was still out of the office, but I knew karma wouldn't be that kind to me. I really didn't want to hear an _I told you so _from Ranger, about how I should've taken a vehicle guaranteed to run, in case he _was_ back in the building so I called the control and told them I needed a pick-up.

Ten minutes later, Ranger's 911 parked at the curb behind my Escort. Crap. Ranger angled out from behind the wheel and walked over to where I was standing with Lula who'd come out to wait with me when she saw my car wasn't going to move.

"Do you need a ride?" Ranger asked me, a slight smile on his lips.

I sighed."Yes."

"I'm your man."

I took a second to process that."You are, aren't you?" I said, smiling up at him. It felt strange to put what we have into words. I've always been scared to step fully into a relationship after what Dickie did to me, but with Ranger it was easier than I ever thought it would be.

"Yes," Ranger said."Don't forget it."

As if I could? Or would even want to?

Lula looked back and forth between us, fanning her face with her hand."I'd better be in the wedding," she said, finally collecting herself,"seein' as how I was rooting for the two of you from the get go."

I didn't say anything to that. We haven't really discussed the wedding yet, and I sure as heck haven't given any thought to who would be what in it.

"Sure," I said to her."I'll let you know when we have it figured out." And I quickly stepped behind the passenger door Ranger was holding open for me. I buckled myself in as Ranger slid behind the wheel.

I blew out a breath."That was close," I said.

Ranger eased onto Hamilton and looked over at me."Still freaked out over the thought of a wedding?"

I was more than a little surprised when the usual wedding inspired nausea didn't come.

"I never thought I'd say this but ... no."

Ranger smiled all two hundred watts at me."Good. Where are we going?" Ranger asked, pulling away from the curb.

Since the only FTA I have is a low bond, I figured I'd make more money doing searches for Rangeman instead. Not to mention, I didn't exactly have a car to take anyone in even if I did feel like chasing someone down. And since my car had just died, I now needed as many Rangeman paychecks as I could get to buy myself a new one.

"Back to Rangeman," I said to him.

He looked over at me and I explained my income logic to him.

"Babe," Ranger said to me,"you don't need to worry about money, I have plenty."

"Yes, _you_ have a lot of money. I, on the other hand, don't have _any."_ He started to speak, but I held my hand up stopping him."Just because we're engaged doesn't mean I'm going to be more of a financial burden than I already am."

After all, he was the one who said he bleeds money every time I'm in danger. I wasn't going to add to it.

Ranger grabbed my hand and tugged on it to get my attention."I'd pay whatever price I had to just to make sure that you're safe. Clothes, cars, rings, all can be replaced. You are the one thing in my life that can't be." He did what for him could be considered a sigh. The slightest whisper of expelled breath."I know what I told you, but I'm not bleeding money to keep _you_ safe. I'm spending money to keep _me_ sane. I wouldn't be able to look at myself in the mirror if something happened to you when I could have prevented it."

This was one of those times when I decided that I liked the ESP thing. Ranger had just said everything I needed to hear to make me let go of the doubts that I wasn't even aware I was having.

I leaned over and placed a small kiss on his jaw."Thank you for saying that," I told him."I'm not trying to be difficult here, it's just that I need to feel like I'm contributing _something _to this relationship."

"Babe, you're contributing a lot. Just ask the guys. No one has gotten the shit beat out of them in the gym since we've started seeing each other."

"So you're ... what? A kinder, gentler, Ranger now?"

Ranger gave me the almost smile."You don't believe that?"

"No," I said to him. He may be kinder and gentler towards me, but he still scared the crap out of everyone else.

I leaned my head back into the seat while Ranger turned down Haywood and keyed us into the garage. Now that I was here I really didn't want to do any searches, but I didn't have a choice since I needed money and didn't want to have to take Ranger's. That didn't make my cubby any more inviting, though.

While I was debating money over boredom, Ranger had opened my door and was looking down at me.

"Deep thoughts, Babe?"

"Not really," I said, getting out of the car. I wasn't about to tell him that I didn't want to be stuck working alone at my desk all day.

Ranger pulled me close and pressed the five button on the elevator."I have an account that could use your input if you wanted something else to do today."

I looked up at him. Doesn't the ESP ever take a second off? I mean, I'll admit that it cuts down on the misunderstandings in our relationship but, jeez, I'd like to not have Ranger reading my mind twenty-four-seven.

"It's not ESP, Babe," Ranger said."I can see what you're thinking clearly on your face. And right now you'd rather pull out all your fingernails than do searches right now."

I narrowed my eyes at him."This would be more fun if I could read _your _mind," I told him.

He smiled down at me."You'd be surprised at how well you can read me," Ranger said."You probably know me better than anyone else, with the exception of Tank."

"Really?" I asked, getting out of the elevator.

"Yes," he said."So what would you like to do?"

I blew out a sigh."Anything that doesn't require me being stuck inside a cubicle."

Ranger's smiled widened. I waved to the guys at the monitoring station as we passed. Ranger sat behind his desk and unrolled the two blueprints that were sitting on top of it. I went to go stand next to him to see the plans, but Ranger tugged on my wrist when I got close enough and I ended up sitting on him instead.

"This doesn't seem very professional," I said to him, leaning back against his chest.

"I'm the boss, Babe, I don't have to be professional," Ranger said, wrapping an arm around me."At least, not with you."

"So what's the job?" I asked.

"A local jewelry store owner wants his store, along with his house, set up with the highest level of security we offer."

"His house, too?"

"He's been known to keep some of his inventory there."

"And this is common knowledge?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Uh-oh."

"Exactly. I want you to look at the plans and point out any place that you've found someone hiding."

I looked up at him."You mean where I found people hiding in my apartment? Or where I've found skips hiding from me?"

Ranger looked at me for a long moment. Probably recalling every one of my near misses.

"Both," he finally said.

An hour and a half later, Ranger had the blueprints rolled back up and my brain felt sufficiently picked.

"Maybe we could go out for lunch and then head over to his store and have a look around," I said."We might be able to get a better idea of where everything needs to go. You know, just in case we missed something."

Ranger gave me a smile, telling me he knew what I was thinking."You just want to spend the day looking at jewelry."

"And?"

Ranger looked pointedly down at my left hand."You don't have enough of your own?"

I gave my head a small shake. Men. They'd never understand.

"First off," I said to him,"you can never have _too_ much jewelry. That's just a fact. And second, you can look all you want at expensive stuff without having to actually buy it."

"Why would you want to look at something you don't intend to buy?"

See what I mean? Men don't understand anything at all when it comes to shopping.

"It's a girl thing, I guess." I would point out that men do the exact same thing with vehicles. They're always looking at tricked-out cars and pimped-up trucks that they'll never be able to afford. Unfortunately, that wouldn't help Ranger understand, though. When Ranger wanted a car, _any _car, it showed up in the Rangeman garage twenty four hours later. Sometimes even sooner than that.

"So if looking at jewelry is out," I said to him."What about lunch?"

Ranger moved my hair out of his way and pressed a kiss to the nape of my neck."What would you like to have for lunch?" He asked me after another kiss. This time to the spot just below my ear.

Mmmm ... loaded question, I thought.

"How long do we have?" I asked him.

"All afternoon?"

I turned and looked up at him."You don't have something to do?"

"I always have something to do, Babe," Ranger said,"but there's nothing critical right now."

"Wow," I said."You're really serious about taking time off, aren't you?"

"It's been pointed out that I may need a break once and a while."

"Yeah, but ..." I stopped. Since I'm the one that said it, what if it bites me in the butt? More time spent with me could mean that Ranger would get sick of me eventually. I already knew from past experience that I'm hard to live with.

"Babe."

"What?"

"Stop thinking that way," Ranger said, brushing a kiss across my temple.

"What way?"

"I've been spending time with you, and watching over you, for years. All by choice, Steph," Ranger said."I asked you to work for my company before we were even seeing each other. And I want you to marry me. Why would you think that I'd suddenly get tired of you now?"

"You really need to stop doing that," I told him, although I was doing a mental happy dance just from hearing that."Old habits die hard, I guess," I said by way of an explanation."Sometimes I relapse and start doubting what you see in me, but I promise I'm done doing it. You've never givenmeany reason to question your motives, and I'm not about to _give_ you a reason to question them now."

"I'm not going to get tired of you. The doubts, putting yourself in danger, and your hormonal grandmother, yes. But not _you._ I know exactly what I want. And now that I finally have it, I'm not letting anything get in the way of it. And that includes any doubts you may have. You've trusted me in the past, Babe, and you can trust me with your future."

"I do trust you, Ranger," I said to him, my eyes holding his."And I always will." Ranger's lips tipped up and he gave me a very thorough kiss that made believers out of us both.

When we finally pulled apart, Ranger shut his computer down and stood me up with him. He called Ella and told her we'd be up on seven for lunch, then wrapped an arm around me and moved us out of the office.

We ran into Tank on the way to the elevator and Ranger stopped to talk to him. I have a good relationship with the men of Rangeman, but there are still times when I feel like they have a line between me, 'the boss' girlfriend,' and them that makes it hard for them to feel completely comfortable with me. _Fiance_, I corrected myself. Damn, that was going to take some getting used to. But I've made considerable progress in fixing that. These men were some of the bravest people I'd ever met, and they deserved to know that Ranger and I care about what happens to them. And you would think that Tank would have been the hardest nut to crack, because he didn't talk much and he's almost six and a half feet tall and looked like solid muscled menace, but knowing that Tank was Ranger's best friend made things easier. Ranger wouldn't be friends with someone undeserving of it, and Tank wanted Ranger to be happy and seemed to agree with Ranger that I help keep him that way, so we got along pretty good.

Ranger wrapped up his conversation with Tank without me really hearing any of it. That's the problem with talking to yourself Stephanie, I said to myself, you end up missing anything anyone else has to say. But, since Ranger and Tank don't gossip, I'm pretty sure they were only discussing business so it was unlikely that I'd missed out on anything interesting.

Tank's phone rang and, after a nod to both Ranger and I, he answered it while walking back to his office. We stepped into the elevator and Ranger hit seven. Two minutes later, he was unlocking his apartment door for me. This was probably the first time we didn't end up in the bedroom seconds after the door closed behind us. It was nice knowing that we were guaranteed time together. No longer having to settle for a quick kiss in an alley when no one was looking. We had the night ahead of us and didn't need to rush_ any _part of it.

We ate sandwiches at the kitchen bar and then settled down on the couch in Ranger's den. Sitting cuddled up on Ranger's lap watching TV was a different kind of sexy. This was proof that even without sex we still like being with each other.

By five, Ranger's phone started buzzing. We managed to get a couple hours of down time, but Ranger was the boss and I knew it was only a matter of time. While he answered his phone, I called down to Ella and let her know we'd be ready for supper in a little while. A shower sounded like a good idea and when I finally dragged myself out from under the hot water, and came back to see what I might've missed while I was gone, I saw that Ranger was still on the phone and Ella had already been up.

She'd set the dining room table for us. And our supper of pork tenderloin, roasted vegetables, and saffron rice was waiting under the covers of the serving dishes. Ella cooked, she ironed sheets, she made dessert. If she were male and looked like Ranger, she would have been the perfect man. If there was such a thing. Ranger would qualify, but he doesn't eat dessert and he likes to exercise, so I have to take some points off for that. Then again, he does make up for those faults witha lot of _other _things he's _really_ good at.

Ranger met me in the dining room.

"Everything okay?" I asked him.

"Yeah. A minor computer issue at the Miami office. The head of the software company is over there now, so I'm not expecting any more problems tonight."

We ate dinner, cleaned up the dishes, then migrated back to the couch. I really could get used to this, I thought. I was once again on Ranger's lap in what I call our TV-watching-position. Which was Ranger sitting relaxed into the corner of the couch, me across his lap with my feet resting on the cushion, and Ranger's arms around me.

He found a movie that we both could agree on, which wasn't easy since I like Ghostbusters and Ranger's more of a Scarface kind of guy. By the time the credits were rolling, I was beyond relaxed. And really turned on. On and off for the last hour, Ranger had been lightly brushing his fingers across my stomach. I didn't know if it was a conscious thing he was doing to seduce me or if he didn't even realize that he was doing it. Either way, I was hoping we'd see the walls of Ranger's bedroom _soon_.

Of all the years I'd known Ranger and thought of him as scary, I had no idea that he had such a touchy-feely side. Though, he _had _touched me plenty during those years. And he'd definitely felt me up on more than one occasion, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that he always had his hands on me in some way now that he could whenever he wanted.

I snuggled closer to Ranger and accidentally rubbed my butt against him. Okay, so maybe it wasn't an accident, but Ranger didn't need to know that.

"Sorry," I said softly when I felt him harden against me.

Then I was back to doing a mental happy dance, because the TV was turned off and Ranger had me in his arms carrying me to the bedroom. We didn't exactly rip each other's clothes off, but they were removed quickly. Mine faster than Ranger's. A common occurrence when I was around him. Then his mouth was on me, followed by my mouth on _him_. If Ranger had his way he'd torture me until I forgot my own name. But I'd found out that if I managed to get my hands or mouth on_ him, _I could usually convince him that waiting was highly overrated.

After only a few short minutes, Ranger pulled away from my teasing mouth. He covered my body with his and lowered his mouth to mine. Then Ranger was right where he was meant to be... as close as it was physically possible for him to be.

I woke up to something soft brushing across my lips. I opened one eye cautiously and saw Ranger leaning over me with one of my curls between his fingers.

It wasn't strange for Ranger to be awake this early, but he didn't usually wake me up unless he was forcing me to run or had something bad to tell me. It was a toss up this morning about which one I wanted it to be. I _really _didn't want to run.

"Who died?" I asked, my voice still sounding sleepy. I decided that as long as nobody was dead, I could get through running. Maybe.

"Nobody died," Ranger said."I wanted to show you something before I have to leave for my meeting."

"What time is your meeting?"

"Eight o' clock."

"And what time is it now?" I asked.

"Five-thirty."

"And what you have to show me is going to take two and a half hours?"

"Including you getting dressed and eating breakfast?" Ranger said to me."Then, yes."

I looked at him, suspicious."Didn't you show me _something_ plentylast night?"

Ranger lips tipped up in an almost smile."Are you complaining?"

"No."

"It's not_ that _kind of something," he said."Come on, Babe. Get up."

He pulled me up from the bed and walked me into the bathroom. After turning on the shower for me, he walked back out closing the door behind him. I guess it really wasn't that kind of surprise, I thought, looking at the closed door. I had to admit that even though I was curious about what it was Ranger wanted to show me, I was also a little disappointed that he hadn't stayed in the bathroom with me. But if he was on a deadline maybe it was better that he hadn't. Time seemed to take a backseat to whatever we were doing together.

Since I'd taken care of my hair last night in the shower just to have an excuse to stay longer in it, I quickly washed and shaved everything I needed to and got dressed, fixed my hair, and did my makeup in record time before joining Ranger in the kitchen.

He looked at me, eyebrow raised."That must have been one of the fastest showers you've ever taken," Ranger said, looking like he was about to smile.

"That was nothing," I said to him."You should have seen me last year when the hot water cut out on me in my apartment. I swear I was completely showered in under two minutes, tops."

"I would have loved to have seen that," Ranger said, his eyes darkening.

"You've seen_ plenty_ since then," I said, sitting down across from him at the little kitchen table.

"Babe," Ranger said,"there are some things that a man never gets tired of looking at. For _me_, your naked body is one of them."

I knew what he meant. I'd never get tired of looking at his naked body, either. I could feel my face turn red. I wasn't sure if it was from embarrassment because Ranger was openly discussing my naked body, or if it was caused by me thinking too much about his. Probably the latter. Ranger looked really good naked.

Luckily Ella chose that moment to knock on the door, saving me from throwing myself at him. When Ranger was about to stand, I motioned for him to stay where he was and opened the front door to a smiling Ella.

"Good morning," she said, with what looked suspiciously like a I-know-something-you-don't-know smile."You're up early."

I shot a glare towards the kitchen and Ranger."Not by choice," I said under my breath, as I followed her to the kitchen. Ella quickly set out our breakfast and, after assuring me that I'd have a good day, was out the door closing it softly behind her. Looks like everyone knew what my surprise was but me. That's nothing new, I thought to myself.

Ranger looked pointedly down at his watch and I got the hint. He may have wanted to surprise me, but he was still running a business and had to do things around it.

When I peeked under the cover of my breakfast dish to see what Ella had made for breakfast, my face broke out into a huge smile.

"Is this my surprise?" I asked Ranger, looking down at the stack of chocolate chip pancakes that Ella had whipped up for me.

Ranger looked like he wanted to sigh."No," he said."Ella is still excited about us getting married and she doesn't want to take a chance that I'll scare you off."

I took a bite and almost moaned."No chance of that," I said, when I finished chewing.

Ranger gave me a small smile."How much of that answer was about me? And how much was about the pancakes?" He asked.

"Right now, you're about tied."

He leaned over and kissed my maple-flavored lips."I never tie, Babe," Ranger said."I always win."

He was right. If I had to choose between him and pancakes, he'd definitely win. Of course, if he was up against a pineapple-upside-down-cake, I might have needed more time to decide.

I downed the rest of my breakfast while Ranger ate his bagel and finished his coffee. After the kitchen was back in order Ranger ushered me out of the apartment.

When we stepped off the elevator into the underground garage, I noticed that in the spaces where my POS car and Ranger's Cayenne were usually parked now sat two new gleaming Porsches.

"I know how much you like driving the Cayenne, so I got you one of your own," Ranger said to me, pulling me forward.

They were like his Cayenne, but ... _more_. Ranger had obviously upgraded. Who knew they even made a Turbo-style Cayenne?

I registered the fact that the cars were black. That the cars were brand new. Not to mention _expensive_. My mind _didn't_ register the fact that one of them belonged to me. When it did finally hit me, I took a step away from it.

"No. No, no, no. I can't accept that," I said, pointing to the car."Remember what happens every time you give me a car? This car deserves a better owner than I could ever be. One who won't annihilate it."

Ranger had given me a Mercedes not that long ago, and how it ended up in car heaven wasn't pretty, hence the discussion about me buying my own POS. And that's probably why he wanted this to be a surprise, so I wouldn't spend an hour arguing with him about it.

"First off, it's_ your _car," Ranger said, watching my reaction with a slight smile on his face."Second, it can be replaced if something happens to it." Ranger gestured to the second Cayenne."And I thought ahead and got a spare."

When I still made no move towards the car, Ranger spoke again.

"If it makes you feel better, consider this an engagement present."

"I thought the ring was the present," I said, turning to face him.

"No."

"What about you?" I asked."What do you get for being engaged?"

Even if Ranger didn't already have everything he needs, I didn't exactly have huge amounts of money just lying around to buy him something like this.

"I get you, Babe."

I blinked back a sudden rush of tears. If I wasn't already in love with him, that would have clinched it. For the first time in a while, I was speechless. I closed the small distance between us, wrapped my arms around his neck, and kissed him. And I kept on kissing him until we both ran out of air, putting every ounce of feeling that he had stirred up in me into it. I didn't pay any attention to the cameras, or to the the fact that we were standing in the Rangeman garage. Nothing mattered to me but the man I had my arms around.

By the time I pulled back, Ranger's hands were firm, resting low on my hips with his leg between mine, and he had a thousand-watt smile on his face.

"What was that for?" He asked me, tucking a stray curl behind my ear.

"For how you treat me," I said, trying to find the right words for what I was feeling."And I guess, for loving me. For accepting me for who I am."

Ranger leaned forward, gently touching his lips to mine."Babe, I love you. And that means I love every part of you. No exceptions."

This man was going to kill me, I thought. Ranger was already way too sexy for _his _own good, let alone_ mine_. Throw in some of the sweetest words I'd ever heard from a man and he was lethal.

I looked towards the camera that was pointed at us, suddenly conscious of where we were."Is there any chance that the control room didn't see that?"

"No," Ranger said."But if you need me to, I can fire everyone in it."

I knew he was kidding, but I would have liked to consider it. As much as I love the guys, I didn't exactly want to share such a private moment with them.

Ranger pressed another kiss to my lips before opening the driver's side door on my new car."Want to go for a ride?"

"What if it blows up?" I asked, my earlier worries returning.

Ranger smiled at me."It's brand new so it should last at least twenty four hours."

I was probably the only person in Trenton who didn't find that amusing.

"Very funny," I said, brushing by him to slide behind the wheel. I relaxed into the leather seat and inhaled. This was really close to what I'd call heaven. It got even closer to heaven when Ranger settled himself into the passenger's seat and the new car smell mixed with Ranger's Bulgari. Yep, this man was going to be the death of me. Though I was pretty sure that even if my body was dead, my hormones would still be alive and ready to go.

I started the car and looked over at Ranger."It wasn't about the car," I said to him. I didn't want Ranger to think that little scene in the garage was because he gave me something. He did give me something, but it wasn't the car. And I wanted him to know that.

Ranger reached over and slid his hand along my thigh. "I know, Babe," he said, and leaned over kissing the corner of my mouth. I reached down and squeezed his hand before pulling out of the garage.

I drove through some side streets for a while then turned towards the Burg and stopped at Tasty Pastry. The owners probably had their alarm set for the same time Ranger had his, because the bakery was always open before the sun came up.

Ranger looked over at me."Babe."

"What?" I said."This is a _celebratory_ doughnut, and that means it doesn't have any calories in it." I was pretty sure that was a scientifically proven fact.

"We just had breakfast a little while ago," Ranger said to me.

"And?"

Ranger gave his head an almost imperceptible shake. I got out and returned five minutes later with three Boston Cream doughnuts.

I took a bite of one and offered the bag to Ranger."I bought you one, too." I really wanted to see him eat one.

Of course, I was disappointed. He didn't take the offered bag. He did however wait for me to finish my doughnut before pulling me across the console and kissing me. When we were both starved for oxygen he pulled back, but only far enough to run his tongue along my bottom lip.

"You're right, Babe," he said."It does taste good."

I felt my underwear go damp as his eyes traveled from me to the bakery bag, and the remaining two doughnuts.

I cleared my throat before speaking."If I'm going to have to drive us back to Rangeman, maybe we should wait until we get there before having the rest."

I didn't know if I was referring to the Boston Creams or to what Ranger had started with that kiss. But I knew I'd be satisfied either way.

I opened my phone to Lula two and a half hours later."It's after ten. Where the heck are you? And what are you doing?"

"I'm at Rangeman. And I was eating doughnuts," I said to Lula. And I was for the most part telling the truth.

"_Doughnuts? _You were eating_ doughnuts _at Rangeman?"

"Yes," I said to her. Among other things, but Lula didn't need to know about _that_ particular part of my morning.

"And Ranger was there?" Lula asked, not sure if she believed me.

"Yep. He had no problem with me eating them." I said, smiling. As long as he got to lick the cream off of me, I mentally added.

"Why aren't you at the office? Connie said she hasn't heard from you."

I was more interested in why Lula was at the office before noon.

"I got a late start," I told her. Okay, so technically _that_ wasn't true. But since Ranger had to be in a meeting at eight, we had to wait until it was finished before we could pick up where we left off with the doughnuts. Lucky for me, the meeting was short.

"I bet," Lula said."I'd get a late start, too, if I was in bed with Batman."

"I just got up late," I said."My alarm didn't go off."

"Uh-huh," Lula said, not sounding convinced."Do you need a ride? I can swing by Rangeman and pick you up. I can get there even faster if you got any of them doughnuts left."

"Thanks, but I can get a ride to the office." I'd rather see the look on Lula's face when she saw my Porsche."And sorry, I don't have any doughnuts left, but I'll stop and pick some up on my way in." The doughnuts were gone almost as fast as our clothes were.

I disconnected and looked over at Ranger who was getting dressed for the second time this morning.

"I don't think she believed me," I said to him.

Ranger came over and sat down next to me on the bed."Does it matter?"

"No," I said."I just don't want everyone to think that we only have sex going for us."

Ranger cuddled me into him."Babe, if all I wanted was sex, I wouldn't have to marry you to get it."

I pulled back a little to give him a shot to the shoulder."Hey!"

Ranger gave a soft laugh."We both know that you would've stayed in my bed with or without the ring," Ranger said.

I decided I'd do the mature thing and wait to see where he was going with this before I hit him again."You sure about that?" I asked him.

Ranger smiled at my tone."Yes."

I'd like to say he was wrong, but let's face it, Ranger is addictive. I would have stayed as long as he wanted me to. Well, as long as I knew that there was more to it than just a booty call. Shit. I guess I had to admit that he was right. Again.

I blew out a breath."Okay, I see where you're going with this. We've always had something more between us, even when we weren't sleeping together."

"Glad I didn't have to point that out, Steph," Ranger said, his expression unchanged.

If I wasn't mistaken, that had a definite sarcastic tone to it so he did end up getting another shot to the shoulder after all.

Ranger grabbed both of my hands in his and had me flat on the mattress in a matter of seconds. He had effectively pinned my hands above my head while his body secured the rest of me.

His lips brushed against mine when he spoke."Are you sure you want to get physical with me?"

Oh yeah. OH YEAH! My heart sped up and I swear the clock slowed down. Lula wouldn't mind waiting a little longer for doughnuts, I told myself. She was always concerned about my well-being and she would want me to be happy. And I knew that I was about ten seconds away from being_ very, very happy._

"You smell an awful lot like Ranger," Lula said to me when I put my bag and the box of doughnuts down on Connie's desk.

"I used his shower gel this morning?" I suppose it didn't help that I phrased my answer like a question. And, of course, Lula picked up on it.

"At least you're smart enough not to let access to that man's body go to waste," Lula said.

I looked over and saw that Connie's eyes were a little glazed. I was pretty sure I knew what she was thinking about. She's known Ranger longer than I have, but it seemed like only recently has she realized just how hot Ranger was.

"So how did you get here?" Connie asked, recovering quickly."I didn't see Ranger's Turbo or a Rangeman SUV pull up."

I'd parked behind Lula's Firebird so they wouldn't see the Cayenne through the front window.

"I drove," I told her.

"I thought your car died for good this time," Lula said.

"It did."

"Well ...?"

"Ranger gave me a new one this morning."

Lula and Connie were already halfway to the door before I had finished speaking.

"I gotta see this," Lula said."I bet it's another one of them Mercedes like she got last time."

"No," Connie said."Ranger wouldn't give her the same car twice."

I followed behind them and almost got knocked on my ass when Lula spotted the Porsche and stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.

"Holy shit," Lula said."HOLY SHIT!"

Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction, too.

Connie looked over at me."He gave you a Porsche?"

"Yep."

"Isn't he worried that it won't live past today?"

"Ranger got two," I said to her."He said that this way there'd be a backup in case something happened to this one."

"What happened to not wanting to take any more cars from him?" Lula asked.

"He said to consider it an engagement gift."

"Hold the phone," Lula said."Are you tellin' me that not only did you get that big ass diamond ring, but he gave you a brand new car, too?"

"Um, yeah."

"Ranger got _two_ Cayennes?" Connie asked.

I noticed that even Connie didn't say _bought _two Cayennes.

"That's cute," Lula said."If it survives long enough to make it to the wedding, you'll have Mr. and Mrs. Ranger cars.'Course if it was me, I don't know if I'd want that kind of responsibility. That's close to a hundred thousand dollar car your white ass is drivin' around."

I might have gone a shade whiter."Are you sure?"

"Yep," Lula said."Just because I love my baby, don't mean I haven't checked out some cars that may be a little beyond my spending limit right now."

"Shit."

"What are you worried about?" Lula asked."Didn't you just say Ranger has two?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I want to lose this one."

"That man has such a thing for you," Lula said,"that you could blow up every single one of his cars and he wouldn't even blink an eye."

I didn't think that was completely true. Yes, Ranger loves me. No, he really didn't care if I kill his cars. I think he finds it more amusing than anything else. But if something did happen to the car, especially with me in or around it, I run the risk of having a Merry Man permanently attached to my hip. In theory that doesn't sound all that bad because the Merry Men are nice to look at, but the truth is it can get a little stifling. Not to mention embarrassing. I didn't like the fact that Ranger and the guys sometimes thought I needed a keeper.

"I'm not talking about this anymore," I said to Lula. Mainly because I didn't want to _think_ about it anymore.

"Lula's right," Connie said."Every time you and Ranger are in the same room together his eyes don't come off of you."

I gave what could be considered a snort."Yeah, right."

"I'm serious," Connie said."Why do you think we were taking bets on how long it would be before you two got together?"

"Great. Now even my _friends_ have been betting on me?" I asked, my eyes narrowed.

"Umm ..."

"Hell, yeah," Lula said."If you hadn't of waited so long to jump Batman, I'd have a new pair of Via Spigas right now."

Most of the time Connie and Lula are great, but it's times like these that I think friendship isn't all that it's cracked up to be.

"We didn't mean anything by it," Connie said."We won't do it again."

Lula looked like she was going to say something, but a death glare from Connie stopped whatever it was.

"Uh-huh," Lula said."We promise."

I knew they were flat-out lying, but at least they were putting in some effort by pretending that they meant it.

"Ranger and I are going to get married soon, so you'll only have my car's life to place bets on and that won't be nearly as much fun," I said to them,"so you might as well just knock it off now. Do you have anything for me that's quick and not life threatening?" I asked Connie.

"He's not dangerous," Connie said."But if there's a Gilligan's Island marathon on I don't know how quick it'll be."

"Mooner?"

"Yep. He was probably stoned the day he was scheduled to show up for court."

I took the file out of Connie's hand and hefted my bag onto my shoulder."I'm off," I told them, and headed back to the Porsche. I could feel Connie and Lula's eyes on me as I got behind the wheel of the car, and I was pretty sure there would be perfect prints of both their faces on the glass when they pulled away. I gave them a final wave as I drove past, and headed for Mooner's place.

Connie was right, except that I Dream of Jeannie was on instead of Gilligan's Island. After two hours of Major Nelson telling Jeannie not to do anything crazy (boy, did _that _sound familiar) Mooner an I were on our way to the Trenton PD. I called Connie and told her that I had Mooner and she agreed to meet us there, so I was out of the station in under ten minutes.

Unfortunately, while walking out of the building searching for my car keys, I bumped into a solid, gun-wearing, plainclothes cop chest. Morelli. Great.

I took a deep breath."Joe," I said, as I moved to pass him.

Joe reached out and caught my arm."Cupcake, wait," he said.

I made a show of looking down at where his hand was. He was holding me loosely, but I didn't like that he thought he had the right to stop me from leaving.

Joe let go of me and sighed."I just wanted to talk to you for a minute."

I didn't say anything. I was trying to get a feel of what mood he was in.

"Please, Steph," he said softly.

Damn. He knew I was a sucker for the P-word. And he didn't look like he was going to start yelling so I figured I should at least hear him out. Joe had been a large part of my life and I just couldn't see him no longer in it. I was completely with Ranger and had no desire to resume a relationship with Morelli, but I was still hoping Joe and I could stay at least somewhat friends if we were able to.

Joe must have taken my silence as a sign to break his.

"I wanted to apologize for the way I acted," he said."I was pissed off and I was acting like an asshole." He smiled when he saw me nod my head in agreement.

"You_ were _an asshole," I told him.

His smile grew."I know. I heard about your engagement and I couldn't accept the fact that there would be no more_ us_. And that Ranger was taking my place ... "

"_Joe_," I said, my tone warning him that it would be safer if he didn't continue speaking.

"Sorry," he said."I'm still working on it, but I have calmed down some. Truth is, Steph, I love you. And I want you in my life, even if I have to accept that it's only going to be in this way. Not seeing you isn't going to work for me, and I don't want to fight with you every time we do run into each other. It kills me to have to admit it, but for whatever reason you seem to be happier with Ranger than you were with me. And I have hole in my gut that tells me you aren't going to dump him, so I have no choice but to try to suck it up and move past it. You mean a lot to me, Cupcake, so I'm willing to try, but I have to warn you that it's going to take some time for me to move on. You really are one of a kind."

After deciding that he was telling the truth, and meant what he said, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of me. This was the Joe that I had originally fallen in love with.

"I'm glad that you said that, Joe," I said to him."We started off sort of friends and I'd like to end up friends if we can. It would be weird not to ever talk to you again."

"Fair warning, though," Joe said,"if Ranger doesn't treat you right all bets are off."

Now I was smiling. I knew that wasn't _ever _going to be a problem.

Joe leaned forward and kissed the top of my head."Take care, Cupcake," he said."I plan on bumping into you at Pino's soon."

"Count on it."

With a final wave he walked into the station leaving me wondering if Ranger was going to hear about this before I had a chance to tell him myself. Chances were good. Phones dialed themselves whenever I was around.


	6. Chapter 6

**This is the last chapter that I have pre-written and I had to change some of it because I'm going to start making Stephanie stronger and more confident as the story continues. And I think Ranger and Stephanie have laid a solid foundation for their relationship so after this chapter they won't have to define it anymore, they can just enjoy it. All characters belong to Janet. Warning for a little smut.**

**Chapter 6**

I got no phone calls on the way back to Rangeman. And no shiny black SUV's were tailing me. I had a feeling that Ranger was trying to give me a little space. I had no doubt that someone had their eyes on me during the entire Morelli conversation, but the fact that whoever was watching me didn't go into SWAT mode when Morelli grabbed my arm was a clear sign that Ranger trusted me. First, to take care of myself. And second, to make sure Morelli knew that any attention from him was going to be unwelcome. That being said, if I didn't fill in Ranger immediately as to what went on, he wouldn't be happy.

Ten minutes later, I parked _my _Cayenne next to Ranger's in the garage. Lula was right. They did look like Mr. and Mrs. Ranger cars. I shook my head at the thought and called Ranger.

"Babe."

Just the sound of his voice was enough to bring my smile back. God, I was acting like a 13-year-old girl with her first crush_._

"Where are you?" I asked him.

"I'm on five," Ranger said."I'm just finishing up the details on a new contract."

"I'm assuming you've already heard about my station visit." I didn't make it a question.

"You assume right," Ranger said.

I could hear something in his voice, but I couldn't tell what it was.

"Do you want to talk about it now?" I asked him."Or do you want to pretend it didn't happen?" I knew Ranger wasn't going to let me get out of talking about this, but sometimes it was fun to try.

"We're definitely going to talk about it now."

"Should I head up to seven?" I asked him."Or meet you on five?"

"Seven." And he disconnected.

Maybe when we discuss our vows, I could manage to throw in something about him promising to develop better phone etiquette.

I stuck my cell back in my bag and hurried to the elevator. I had an appointment with Ranger to keep. And maybe after all the talking was done, I could get a little time with Ranger's mouth. Followed by some that included Ranger's hands, body, and his ...

My legs felt more like I'd climbed the stairs instead of taking the elevator, but I wasn't surprised. Ranger thoughts could do that to a woman. I keyed open his door and walked into the apartment, smack dab into a familiar chest for the second time today. Ranger wrapped his arms around me to prevent me from landing on my ass.

"Jeez," I said."Why is everybody sneaking up on me today?"

"Got to be more aware of your surroundings, Babe."

I knew he was talking about bumping (literally) into Joe, not bouncing off his chest just now. I leaned back in Ranger's arms and dropped my bag on to the sideboard.

"The first time I was distracted trying to get my keys out of my bag," I said, sliding my arms around his waist.

"And the second?" Ranger asked.

I looked up into Ranger's eyes and allowed myself to think about what I wanted to do to him."I was distracted thinking about things I wanted to get done tonight," I said to him. Namely _me_.

I saw his eyes darken, his arms tightened around me, and I knew he was reading my mind again. This time it didn't bother me at all. Okay, maybe that wasn't true, but it bothered me in a completely different way.

"Babe."

"What?" I said, shrugging."You asked."

Ranger lowered his head to mine and kissed me. I thought it would be a short, _you're lucky I find you cute _kind of kiss, but boy was I wrong. When Ranger's tongue curled around mine, I might have whimpered a little. When he did finally lift his head, I couldn't think of anything beyond getting him onto the nearest flat surface. Ranger, of course, had other ideas.

"Soon, Babe," he told me.

It seemed like Ranger was not at all affected by that kiss, but seeing as how my parts were tight against his, I could tell that he enjoyed it just as much as I did.

I moved against him hoping to get him thinking about more important things than my chat with Morelli.

"How soon?" I asked. Wanting the exact minutes and seconds.

"How ever long it takes us to talk," Ranger said. He moved the mail and dish of keys to the side and sat me on top of the sideboard.

Damn. So much for distracting him.

"Fine," I said."What do you want to know?"

"Everything," Ranger said, standing in front of me.

Guess I wasn't going anywhere.

I told him about Morelli's apology. And about how he wanted to remain friends. I left out the part about Joe not wanting us to be over and what he'd do if he thought Ranger wasn't doing his part to make me happy.

"Babe," Ranger said, when I was finished."Morelli may be a smart cop, but he's an idiot when it comes to you."

I guess he figured out what I had left unsaid."What do you mean?" I asked him.

"First off, he let me near you," Ranger said, his voice held the slightest bit of disbelief."Even asked me to take care of you a couple of times. He knew there was something between us all along, but he didn't pay attention to how strong it was. And while Morelli didn't know exactly what was going on, he seemed to think that as long as we weren't sleeping together he had nothing to worry about."

"Joe can't be blamed for all of it, though," I told Ranger, still feeling a little guilty over my behavior while I was with Joe. I didn't have sex with Ranger, true, but there were some close calls. And lots of make out sessions. Not to mention sharing the same bed with Ranger more than a few times during our on-again periods."I shouldn't have been doing _anything_ with you when Joe and I were together."

I saw Ranger's eyebrow go up, and felt like I needed to explain what I meant a little bit more."I should have ended things with Joe when I realized there was no way of getting you out of my head." I took a deep breath and continued. This_ talking about your feelings _thing is hard."I wanted you, but I knew you didn't do relationships and I didn't want to lose what I had with Joe over something that wasn't ever going to happen. Problem was, I was already in over my head with you. And I couldn't force myself to give up what little I_ did _have with you. That wasn't fair to Joe. I think he started to sense that, and that's when we started fighting more and he started giving ultimatums."

Ranger looked steadily at me for a long moment before he spoke."Do I have to worry about finding you in an alley kissing Morelli?" Ranger asked me, his tone not changing."Are you going to go straight to his house if we have a fight? Call him before me if something happens to you?"

I felt the blood drain from my face at his questions."God no, Ranger! You don't honestly think I'd do any of those to you, do you?"

Ranger's lips kicked up at the corners of his mouth at my horrified expression."No, Babe, I don't think you'd do that. And that's where Morelli screwed himself. He didn't give it any serious thought when you did all of those things with me."

I raised my eyebrows up in question.

"As I said before, Morelli wanted you to marry him, quit your job, have children and stay home raising them. Those were things that _he_ wanted," Ranger said to me."As far as I could see, not only was he not giving up anything to be with you, he never even asked you what you wanted from him aside for him to accept you."

I never thought of that."So what you're saying is ...?"

Ranger's smile grew."I'm saying that even if I wasn't poaching, it was just a matter of time before the two of you split up. Morelli hadn't, and still hasn't, realized that you need more. In life. And in a relationship. I give you that. I thought we had this all sorted out the other day. You have a job that, for the most part, you like. If you need help, I'm there without having to go through a screaming match first. I don't really see Morelli as a threat to our relationship. More of a nuisance. I already said I take care of what's mine. And _you_ are. But I'm not going to go into jealous-male-mode over everyone who looks at you. If someone disrespects you or touches you, whether in lust or in anger, that's another thing altogether. Morelli included."

"Wow," I said, feeling dazed."For a man who didn't do relationships you sure have a lot of insight into them."

"Just ours, Babe. I've been around you, and I've wanted you, for years," Ranger said,"and that's given me the opportunity to witness enough of you and Morelli together to know what I needed to do if I wanted to keep you."

I didn't know if I liked the sound of that last part. It sounded too macho for my liking."Keep me?" I asked.

"Babe, it's one thing to get you into my bed," Ranger said."It's another thing to keep you in my life permanently."

Maybe I_ could _forgive him for the _'keep me' _remark.

Ranger started talking again. I'm starting to think that he's been saving up all of his words just for when we finally got together.

"If there was a chance that you and Morelli were done for good," Ranger said to me,"I was going to do something about it."

And he did. After that one night in my apartment, when he walked me up, we've been pretty much attached at the hip. Or at the lips. Or at the ...

"Babe, if you were happy with, and committed to, Morelli, I wouldn't have stood a chance."

I liked the faith that he had in me, but I wasn't entirely sure that was true. I mean Ranger is frickin' _Batman_! And he looks like_ that_! If he would have shown any interest in me at all, besides being a fun way to spend a night, I probably wouldn't have gone back to Joe at all. In the past (okay, yesterday) I had trouble believing someone like Ranger wanted _me_. Little klutzy, imperfect, Stephanie from the Burg. In the beginning I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone. I mean, I know I'm not hideous, but I'm far from the physical perfection that Ranger is. I'm cranky most days. I have a tendency to get myself into serious trouble, though I almost always manage to get out of it. My hair is freaky. And whoever is with me has to put up with my insane family. All in all, that didn't add up to the most attractive package.

"Babe, stop." Ranger said.

I shook my head to clear it."I'm saying that's what I used to feel, but someone told me recently that I'm a pretty remarkable woman."

"And he was right in saying so," Ranger said."You're just starting to understand how different you are ..."

I cut him off."Believe me, Ranger, I know how different I am." I told him with a laugh."I've spent close to thirty years hearing about just _how_ different I am."

Ranger smiled at me, and I smiled back. I was done letting my past control me, and he knew it since he's been key in helping me do it.

"Your mother just didn't know what to look for, Babe. You have some of the best instincts I've ever seen."

"My spidey sense?"

"Yes," Ranger said."You willingly put yourself in danger to help people you don't even know. And even some you don't even like."

"Joyce?"

Ranger nodded. At least, I think it was a nod.

"To name just one," Ranger told me."You got kidnapped, burnt, almost killed numerous times, and yet you always bounce back. It takes a certain type of person to be able to do that. It usually takes the military months to train men to achieve that. You claim I'm trying to save the world, but what you do isn't all that different, just on a smaller scale. You're always trying to save whoever needs you at the time without thinking about anything else, including your own safety."

"And that's on the pro side of the list?" I asked.

"Most days," Ranger said.

Ranger praise was good for my ego, I thought. I have a feeling that a few more months with Ranger will completely wipe out the previous thirty years of my mother's voice in my head.

"Hearing it put like that," I said him."I wish _I_ could date _me_."

Ranger, knowing that I still wasn't entirely comfortable with compliments, went along with me."I don't share, Babe," he said, putting his arms back around my body."Did I mention you look good, too?"

This I could deal with. This was_ very _familiar territory.

"Now that we've talked," Ranger said, his voice low, "I can start showing you another reason why I don't have to worry about Morelli or anyone else."

"Showing me?" I asked, my breath hitched as Ranger nudged my legs apart, pressing his lower body into mine.

"Yes," Ranger said to me."No other man can make you feel the things I do."

"Are you sure about that?" I already knew the answer, and agreed entirely with it, but I didn't wanted to appear easy. Though Ranger was only standing against me and I was ready to go lights out. Looks like I_ am _easy.

"Positive."

I was positive, too. Ranger is good at everything. Get him out of his clothes and you have to start inventing new words to describe him.

Ranger lowered his head and captured my lips with his. The kiss started out soft, but immediately turned into something else entirely. Ranger's tongue was in my mouth, and I still couldn't get enough of him. I heard a moan and I was pretty sure it came from me. I wrapped my leg around his, trying to get even closer to him. Ranger lifted his mouth from mine and gave me a gentle smile.

"We've got all night, Babe."

Sure, I wanted all night, but I also wanted something right now.

"Uh-huh," I said, and pulled his head back down to mine. I threaded my fingers through Ranger's hair and held on. I almost smiled when I got an assist from Ranger. He pulled my other leg around him and carried me into the bedroom. We had all night, but we had to start it sometime, right?

Ranger, without breaking the kiss, placed his knee on the bed and laid me down flat on it. My legs were still wrapped around him and he was fully clothed between them. Ranger ran his hands underneath my shirt and up my ribcage, catching my T-shirt with his wrists, peeling it off of me. He let my mouth go only long enough to pull the shirt over my head before he was kissing me again. Ranger's hands were moving again, my bra was unfastened and discarded, and he made short work of the button on my jeans. He broke off the kiss and started sliding my jeans and panties down my legs. I impatiently helped kick them off after Ranger removed my shoes and socks. He reached up and pulled his shirt off one handed, before settling between my legs again. Ranger kissed his way up the inside of my thigh, barely touching the place where I wanted him the most, and did the same thing up my left thigh. I was beyond squirming at this point. I could feel everything below my neck wake up, and I was afraid that I wasn't going to last the night. Ranger was always thorough when we made love. And he always made sure that I was right there with him every step of the way, but tonight was different. It was almost like this was his gift to me. That he was showing me, with only his body, just how much I mean to him. I felt tears prickle at the back of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. If I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to handle tonight, then I was terrified that Ranger would see my tears and stop what he was doing. I never considered myself an emotional person, but Ranger triggered every one of them. Whether it be anger, lust, or love, Ranger brought out the unfiltered version of every single one of them.

My tears were forgotten when Ranger finally put his mouth on me. I might have screamed, or blacked out, or both. All I can remember is the feeling of Ranger's warm breath between my legs and his hot mouth where I ached for him to be. After what had to be at least two orgasms, Ranger raised his head and started pressing open-mouthed kisses to my hip bones, my lower belly, before circling my belly button with his tongue. Who knew that kissing a belly button could be that sexy? He slid further up my body and kissed my left breast, while his thumb brushed across the nipple of the right one. My hands were holding Ranger to me, my hips were arching uncontrollably off the bed, and Ranger was still taking his time. I couldn't say that I didn't enjoy it, but I wanted_ more_. I wanted Ranger inside of me. Now. He switched sides, palming my left breast while kissing the right one, and I was reduced to groaning. Partly from desire and partly from pure frustration.

Ranger must have sensed what I was feeling, because he lifted his head from my chest and kissed me. At the same moment he plunged his tongue into my mouth, his body plunged into mine. I don't know when he got rid of the rest of his clothes, but I didn't have time to think about it. I would've let out a shriek a banshee would have been impressed by, if Ranger's mouth hadn't been covering mine. I'd agreed with him earlier that no man could make me feel the way Ranger does. And I had been telling the truth. But tonight was something _way_ beyond sex. I have never felt more loved than I did at that moment.

"I love you, too," I whispered against Ranger's lips, and I felt them smile in response. He knew that I understood what he'd been saying.

Hours later it was dark, and I was molded like putty to Ranger's chest. He had pulled the blanket over us, and was now running his fingertips up and down my back. I was totally relaxed, but not sleepy at all. Something Ranger had said earlier kept pushing to the front of my brain. I would have asked him about it a while ago, but I was distracted by the whole orgasm thing.

"Can I ask you something?" I said, picking my head up off of his chest.

"Go ahead," Ranger said.

"Earlier you said that if there was a chance that Joe and I were over for good, you were going to do something about it,"I said to him."That sounds like you wanted things to change between us."

"I did," Ranger said, easing my head back down to his chest, his fingers stroking my rat's nest of curls.

"Why didn't you tell me that?" I asked."Why did you wait?"

Ranger's hand stilled while he figured out what he was going to tell me. I hope I wasn't going to regret bringing this up.

"Babe, when I finally admitted to myself that I needed you in my life," Ranger said,"that it would be easier to keep you safe from my enemies if we were together, I had to make sure it was what you wanted too before I did something to change things."

"But Morelli and I were broken up," I told him."And you must have known that I loved you."

"I did," Ranger said, kissing the top of my head."But you also loved Morelli."

I started to raise my head up again, but Ranger's hand slid through my hair and cupped the back of my head, keeping me where I was.

"Calm down, Babe, and let me finish."

I was starting to miss the Ranger who never spoke.

"You had to make the first move, Steph," Ranger said."You had to figure out for yourself that you and Morelli would never have worked out. I didn't wanted to pressure you into anything only to have you feel unsure or guilty later on. So I waited."

"Crap," I said. He knew me better than I knew myself. I probably would've felt guilty about hurting Joe and worried that Ranger would feel used.

"If you chose to be with me, then there was going to be no on-and-off thing," Ranger said, his voice leaving no room for arguing."No running back to Morelli if I did something you didn't like. No guilt. No worrying about what the Burg would say. What your mother would say. Just you and I ... together. No gray areas."

I thought that was kind of funny considering Ranger's whole life is a gray area.

"So all this time I thought that your no-relationship rule was what kept us apart and all along it was me?" I asked."My commitment issues?"

Ranger let out what for him was a sigh."That's the point I'm making, Babe," Ranger said, this time lifting my chin to look at him."You don't have commitment issues. Not anymore."

Huh."Maybe you shouldn't say that," I said."I still have a wedding to plan."

Ranger kissed me, and when he pulled back I could see the corners of his lips twitching."You don't _have_ to plan a wedding, Babe," Ranger said to me."We could always fly to Vegas."

I narrowed my eyes at him. I may not be the most traditional women when it comes to getting married, but I draw the line at an Elvis wannabe pronouncing us husband and wife. Before my mother had the chance to kill me, I'd kill myself.

"Not going to happen," I said to him.

Ranger's smile widened, and I knew he'd been teasing me. Great. Now I'm defending a_ fluffy white dress/probably going to be expensive/something that my mother would approve of _wedding. Damn.

"Steph," Ranger said,"don't stress out over this."

Easy for him to say."Easy for you to say," I said, out loud this time.

"If you want, I can take care of it."

Usually when Ranger takes care of something it disappears, never to be seen again. Somehow I don't think that's what he meant in this case.

I leaned up on an elbow and looked down at him."You know how to plan a wedding?" I asked him. I thought his quickie marriage to Rachel was a civil service done at a courthouse.

"No," Ranger said to me."But I can hire people who do."

I thought about this for a long moment."Thanks for the offer, but I want to do this myself. If we hire someone they'll spend a huge amount of money, invite people who don't need to be there, and I'll end up with the Burg wedding that I don't want."

"Babe,_ you _pay the people to do what _you_ want."

That may be what happened when Ranger hired someone, but sometimes I'll cave when I'm pressured too much. Just look at my relationship with my mother. I was determined not to let anyone browbeat me into anything I didn't want, but I wasn't willing to risk it in this case. Our wedding was too important to me.

"No," I told him,"I need to do this myself. I don't want input from anybody but you. I want a _small_ wedding with food that _we_ like and only our friends, family, and the people here at Rangeman, attending."

"Works for me," Ranger said, wrapping his arms around me."Anything else you want?" Ranger asked me.

"You're going to be there, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it, Babe," Ranger said, laughing softly before kissing me.

"Then no," I told him, when he let me breathe again."I'm good."

I guess he liked my answer because his mouth covered mine again. Ranger deepened the kiss, and I slid my arms around his neck and kissed him back. When we broke apart a few moments later we were both breathing hard.

"So is there anything else we should talk about now, Batman?" I asked.

"_Talking_ isn't what I had in mind," Ranger said.

I plastered an innocent look on my face while I moved my hips against his."What _did _you have in mind then?"

For an answer, Ranger ran his hands down my back and lifted my hips so he could slide into me. We'd only shared two kisses, but Ranger knew I was ready for him. I was starting to think being turned on was going to be a life long condition.

If the first time we made love was about Ranger showing me how much he loved me, than this time was about how much he wanted me. And the feeling was definitely mutual.

The alarm wasn't what woke me up the next time. It was the feeling of what I was using as a pillow, Ranger's shoulder, moving away from me.

"Unh," I said. Even though I was getting used to Ranger's hours since I've been staying here more often than not, I was still far from a morning person.

"Go back to sleep, Babe," Ranger said. He kissed the top of my head before sliding the rest of the way out of bed."It's still early. I'm heading down to the gym before work."

I was starting to wake up a little more."You didn't use enough muscles last night?" I asked him.

I could see Ranger smile in the dimly lit room."Got to keep up with you, Babe."

Yeah, right.

While Ranger threw on his workout clothes I flopped over to his side of the bed. It was still warm from his body and smelled like him. I closed my eyes and fell right back to sleep.

It was brighter in the bedroom when I heard Ranger step out of the bathroom. His hair was still damp, and he had on his Rangeman uniform of black cargos, black T-shirt, and he was carrying his boots in his hand. I didn't hear him come back from the gym, or even the shower running. Guess I was out cold. Again.

"What time is it?" I asked Ranger.

He sat next to me on the edge of the bed and pulled on his boots.

"A little after six," he said. When he was done he leaned over and kissed me."Morning, Babe."

"Mmm, morning," I said sleepily.

"Do you want to have breakfast now?" Ranger asked."Or do you want to call Ella when you wake up?"

"I'm awake," I said. And I was, sort of."I can get ready while you eat breakfast and we can head down to five together."

I already decide today would be a Rangeman day. It was never a good idea to leave my desk for longer than a day. I swear that Rodriguez guy loves screwing with me. He waits until I'm not looking and then proceeds to heap searches onto my already overflowing pile of them.

Ranger kissed me again."Take your time," Ranger said."I'll wait for you."

After one last kiss, Ranger stood and I made my way to the bathroom.

I took the quickest shower I could. And not wanting to waste anymore time on the hairdryer, I pulled my partially wet hair into a ponytail. Ranger may not think it's a big deal, but I didn't want him to keep adjusting his schedule for me.

I finished getting dressed and walked into the kitchen ten minutes later. Ranger looked over at me and smiled when he noticed my still damp hair struggling to break free from the ponytail I'd managed to wrangle it into.

"Babe," Ranger said."I told you I'd wait for you."

"No need," I said."I'm ready."

I looked at the table and noticed that Ranger hadn't touched his breakfast.

"I thought you were going to eat while I was showering?" I said to him."I was going to grab something on five to eat at my desk."

Ranger looked like he wanted to roll his eyes, but since his willpower is stronger than mine, he didn't.

"Babe, sit." Ranger said.

I blew out a sigh. I tried, I told myself. If he wants to wait for me then who am I to argue? Well, more than I already had.

I took the chair next to him, and looked under the cover of my breakfast dish. Pancakes! And extra syrup! God, I loved Ella. I was glad now that Ranger waited. You couldn't get something like this in the control room kitchen. Ranger had his usual egg white creation with something healthy and green stirred into it.

When the last of my syrup had been mopped up, I sat back in my chair and noticed Ranger watching me.

"What?" I asked him."Was I making noise again?"

"Only a little," Ranger said.

"What's with the staring then?"

"Babe, have you ever seen me do something that I didn't want to do?"

Uh-oh. I knew that tone. This had the makings of another 'serious' talk.

"Not that I can remember," I said."Although, you didn't want to be closer than fifty-feet to Grandma Mazur, and you've already had dinner with her a few times."

Ranger's eyes narrowed fractionally. Hard to tell if it was directed at me for trying to joke my way out of potentially important talk, or if it was the memories of said dinners with Grandma, that earned that look.

"Sorry," I said, to cover either one.

"Babe," Ranger said, serious."You need to listen to me ..."

"I _do_ listen to you," I said, not waiting for him to finish. Well, I listen to him _mostly_.

This time I _swear_ I heard a sigh come from him. He gave his head an almost imperceptible shake and soldiered on.

"I want you here in my apartment," Ranger began."I want you to work for my company. I want to marry you and spend the rest of our lives annoying the hell out of each other."

"Hey!"

Ranger's lips tipped up at the corners."What I'm saying, Babe, is that I want to spend as much time as I can with you. If that means leaving later in the morning for work, or walking you down to the garage, or rushing out to help you out with a skip. These are things that _I_ choose to do. You are not responsible for my choices. And my business will not come to a screeching halt if I leave early or come in late. I'm now at a place in my life where I can do what I want to do, when I want to do it. I'll always have a heavy workload, and I'll still have to leave once in a while, but the rest of the time is mine to spend how I see fit. And now that I finally have you here, you're where I want to spend it."

"I know, but ..."

"No buts," Ranger said."I'm not going to stop loving you if you make me mad, or think that you're clingy if you want me to be in bed with you when you wake up in the morning. I know I've screwed up and said some stupid shit to you in the past ..."

"Not as bad as I have," I said, thinking about the my on-again-off-again years with Morelli.

Ranger ignored me."I don't want you to have to wonder about where your place is in my life,"

"And that place is where exactly?" I asked, holding my breath.

"Any place you want to be," Ranger said."You are the person who matters most in my life, aside from Julie. If you need something, I want to be there to give it to you. If you need to talk to me, I'm there anytime. You need to get naked, I'm ready whenever you are."

I rolled my eyes at that one."_That_ hasn't changed," I said."You were_ always _ready."

Ranger grinned and pulled me into his lap."Still am," he said, brushing a kiss against my hair."You are not in the way up here or downstairs. I want you to be completely comfortable in either place with me."

I tilted my head to look up at him."I am comfortable with you," I said.

"Not completely," Ranger said, surprising me.

"What do you mean?"

"Take this morning for example," Ranger said to me,"you were going to eat at your desk because you didn't want to make me wait for you."

"Yeah, so?" I said."I was being_ considerate_."

"I already told you that I was going to wait," Ranger said to me,"so you shouldn't have tried to hurry."

"But ..."

"Babe," Ranger said.

I blew out breath."I know, I know ... _no buts_."

"There are always going to be things that I can't tell you about, but I don't want to have to completely separate my personal life from my business life. The men here all know that you belong to me. And it goes without saying that part of their job is to make sure that you're _always_ taken care of."

"Ranger, I need to stand on my own two feet once in a while, too," I told him."I'm not about to bother your men unless I really need to."

"My men are already half in love with you, so believe me when I tell you that they'll trip over themselves to do anything you ask them to do."

I gave an unladylike snort at that."Uh-huh. Sure. Whatever you say," I said to him."I'm still not going to waste anymore of the guys time than I have to."

"That another reason why I love you," Ranger said."You don't treat my men like they're nothing more than hired hands. And that's what _they_ love about _you_. Even if we offer to help you, you only accept it when you're absolutely forced to."

"They aren't hired hands, " I said."They should be considered for sainthood for having to come out with me."

"I'm the boss," Ranger said to me."They all know that. And they respect me because I still scare the crap out of them. They know that you are important to me so even if the men didn't already like you, they would make it a point to stay on your good side. You also don't need to worry about their reaction to us as a couple. As you can see from Ella, everyone is happy for us. You're important to Rangeman in more ways than one. And I need you to feel comfortable enough around my men to ask them for help if I'm not available. To not be afraid to come to my office when you need to talk to me whether or not I'm with someone."

"You really don't have to do this," I told Ranger."I don't want you to have to be my mentor in our relationship, too. I agree that I still have some things to deal with, but I want to be your equal in this, Ranger, not make you feel like you have to walk me through it. I may not have been completely successful at it, and screwed things up more than I fixed them, but I've been taking care of myself for a while now and, thanks to you, I'm getting better at it."

Ranger brushed a soft kiss at my hairline."I know, Babe," he said."And, for the most part, you've done a good job. And we _are_ equals, but I refuse to take any chances with you."

Jeez, he makes it sound like I'm a trouble magnet. Oh, that's right, I_ am _a trouble magnet. I curled up tighter into Ranger's lap. Since we didn't have to hurry getting to work, maybe I could convince him to take a side-trip to the bedroom. I was starting to feel like a nymphomaniac. Stupid Ranger hormones. Okay, they weren't stupid, just freakin' relentless.

I felt my body shake, as Ranger laughed softly against me."Later, Babe," he promised."I don't want _any_ time constraints when I get you back into my bed."

I couldn't argue with that. I curled my arm around Ranger's neck and kissed him. It's not often that I start things between us, but I felt it was important to show Ranger that I could take charge. And that I could handle all aspects of him, and this life that we've started together.

When I pulled back moments later, both of his eyebrows were raised and Ranger had a smile forming on his lips.

I knew he was waiting for me to speak, so I took a deep breath and let it out slowly trying to find the words for what I wanted to say.

"I'm not good at talking about my feelings," I said to him.

Ranger didn't say anything, but I saw one of his eyebrows go back up for what I took as the eyebrow equivalent of '_No, shit!'_

"Anyway ..." I continued."Everything you've said in the last two days have been things that I've been concerned about. But I'm used to ignoring, denying, conveniently forgetting, and all around avoiding, talking about these types of things. You_ never _talk. Well, you didn't until recently. And yet you, without any help at all from me, addressed and solved everything that I've been concerned about. For you to know me well enough to accurately pin-point what was making me question myself is both scary and amazing."

Ranger's arms tightened around me."Babe, you forget that I may not talk a lot, but I pay attention. I'm also persistent, patient, and ruthless. And I'll do whatever it takes when it comes to getting what I want. And once I have it, I don't let go."

I smiled up at him."Are you promising me, or warning me?" I asked him.

Ranger dropped a kiss on my upturned lips."It can be taken as both."

Ranger stood with me still in his arms, then lowered my legs to the floor."We have to go, Babe."

I sighed."I know, but I don't want to."

Ranger pulled me into his arms and kissed me."I'll make sure that we have plenty of time after work for anything else you might want to _discuss_."

Oh boy.

I cleaned up our breakfast dishes and waited for Ranger by the front door. When he came down the hall, his gun was attached to his belt and he was carrying a Rangeman windbreaker.

"Ready, Babe?" He asked me.

"Yep," I said, grabbing my bag off of the sideboard.

Ranger locked up behind us and I waved at the mini cam when we entered the elevator. Ranger put his arm around my waist, and pulled me closer to him.

"This still feels weird," I said."Having the guys watching us."

"They'd better have something better to do than watch us take an elevator ride."

The guys never shirked their duties, but I knew if it happened to be a slow day we'd be the star attraction.

Tank was waiting when we stepped off the elevator. Ranger held up a finger to Tank, silently telling him to wait a minute before he walked with me to my cubby and kissed me softly on the lips.

I knew he had stuff to do so I gently pushed against his chest."You'd better get to work," I told him."If you keep kissing me, I'm going to be too distracted to work. And the guy I work for is such a hardass, he'll probably fire me for slacking off."

Ranger kissed me again."I should be done by six," Ranger said."I'll meet you upstairs and we can resume our _oral activities_."

Damn. Just when I thought that I was finally getting the last word, he has to go and say something like that. I should know better. Ranger _always_ has the upper hand.

He was watching me, waiting to see my reaction. I'd decided I wasn't going to give him one. Two can play this game. Ranger must have taken my blank expression as a challenge because he pulled me to him, whispered in my ear a few of the things he was going to do me tonight, and gave me another kiss that involved _a lot _of tongue. When he pulled away, I knew my cheeks were flushed and my heart had definitely kicked into overdrive.

I blew a stray curl off of my forehead and admitted defeat."Fine, you win," I told Ranger."Happy now?"

This time Ranger actually smiled and I braced myself."A little," he said."But I know I'll be a lot happier tonight. And so will you."

With that being said he walked out of my cubby, caught Tank's eye and nodded towards his office. Tank immediately stopped trying to look busy and headed for Ranger's door. It was astonishing to see how Ranger had us all at his beck and call. Whether it was out of love, awe, respect, or fear. We were all loyal to him. It was kind of scary, if you thought about it, but the benefits of having Ranger in your corner, or in my case my bed, made it worth it.

I fired up my computer and pushed Ranger's plans for my body to the back of my mind. I could focus on_ those _all I wanted to tonight. As for right now, I had a day of searches to get done.


	7. Chapter 7

**I didn't intend to turn one conversation into a whole chapter but I guess if you have Ranger and Tank's undivided attention, you should take full advantage of it. I'm trying to finish Gotcha before I go much further with this story, but I didn't want to leave it hanging either, so I have two more chapter ideas for Changes before I get into the wedding part of the story. Anything and everyone familiar belongs to Janet. The mistakes are mine.**

**Chapter 7**

It was a little after two when Lester, Bobby, and Hal approached my cubby. Lunch was a distant memory now, and for the last half hour I'd been trying to convince myself to focus on my work instead of doodling on my notepad while thinking seriously about my life, so I was really glad to see them.

"Hey, Steph," Lester said,"we want to ask you something."

I looked at them warily. This could be completely harmless, or I could be three seconds away from being part of something I wanted nothing to do with.

"Oh, yeah?" I said to them.

"How would you like to have dinner with us tomorrow night?" Lester asked.

I didn't know what I'd been expecting, but it wasn't that and I didn't have an immediate answer for him.

"A few of us are getting together and we thought you'd like to come along," Bobby told me while I was thinking of how to respond. It sounded okay so far.

"Sure," I said, cautiously."What's the occasion?"

"Seeing as how you're going to marry Ranger," Hal said,"we feel like we should do something to celebrate."

"Is this like my bridal shower?" I asked them, smiling. Maybe they should have been more nervous around me than I was around them. This could be fun.

"Shit, Steph," Lester said,"don't call it that. You'll make us sound like a bunch of pussies."

"Lester ..." Bobby said, a warning clear in his tone.

"Sissies," Lester said."You'll make us sound like a bunch of _sissies_."

I couldn't help it, I laughed at them. I haven't had many opportunities in the past to play with them, and I was going to do my damndest to make up for lost time. Ranger did say he wanted me to feel comfortable around his men. I just might make him regret saying that.

"You're planning on having games, right?" I asked them."Every shower has party games. Like ... _'Bridal Bingo'_, _'Bridal Party Pictionary'_, '_Guess the Baby Photo'_. I bet you guys were cute as babies. Oh, and I can't forget my favorite game, '_How Sweet It Is', _where you match candy bar names with wedding themed words. I'll kick your butts at that one for sure, since you guys don't know a whole lot about junk food. And you'll need party favors. I saw something perfect for favors the other day in a magazine. It was a bottle opener that was shaped like a diamond ring. It was functional _and_ pretty. Or maybe monogrammed picture frames. What do you guys think? And we need some of those little candy covered almonds, too. You'll probably need to get a truckload of them considering the size of all of you."

"Jesus," Lester said in disgust,"we weren't thinking about any of that shit."

"Yeah," Bobby said,"we were just going to buy you pizza and beer."

"Don't worry guys," I said, taking pity on them,"pizza and beer is perfect. I was just messing with you." When they all started sweating, I started feeling a little bad about tormenting them.

"You're an evil woman, Stephanie Plum," Bobby said to me.

"I hear that a lot," I told Bobby."So, is it just us? Or does Ranger get an invite, too?"

"How the fuck do we know?" Lester said."_You're_ the woman. You should know how these things work?"

"Does the groom usually go to these shower things?" Hal asked, glaring at Lester for the language but not punching him like Bobby did.

"Sometimes," I said."Not in the Burg, though."

"I think we should definitely ask Ranger if he wants to come," Hal said.

"Kissass," Lester said to him.

"Be nice, Lester," I told him.

"Come on, Steph," Lester said,"you know there's no fun in that."

I rolled my eyes at him."Do you want_ me _to ask Ranger?"

"Yeah," Bobby said."He probably wouldn't like his bride-to-be out of his sight for that long."

"He'd survive," I told Bobby."But I'll see if he wants to join us. Where are we going? Shorty's? Pino's?"

"Up to you," Lester said."It's your_ bride-thingy_."

I was just about to say Shorty's out of habit, since it is the usual hangout for all the guys at Rangeman, but I stopped myself.

"Pino's?" I asked.

"Okay," Lester said."The pizza isn't as good as Shorty's, but it'll do in a pinch."

"Hey!" I said, sticking up for Pino and his restaurant."Pino's pizza is every bit as good as Shorty's."

"They do have a bigger menu," Hal said to us.

"Thanks, Hal," I said, giving him a big smile.

I don't know why I didn't just say Shorty's, but I thought this was a good way of combining my two lives. Once Ranger and I get married, Rangeman and the Burg are going to be forever intertwined. They already are to some degree, but the thought of having_ my _Rangemen hanging out at some of my favorite places made me smile. The guys were becoming more _mine _every day. I'd never say that out loud to them, because they'd probably look at me like I had two heads. Then again, they could just as easily be flattered that I'd want to claim them. This group is a hard one to judge.

"Pino's it is," Bobby said, ending the discussion."What time?"

"Let me check with Ranger and get back to you, okay?"

"Sure, we've got until the end of our shift to let everyone know."

"Speaking of work," Hal said,"maybe we should be getting back to ours."

"Hal, Ranger isn't going to get mad if you take a few minutes to talk to me."

"Sure, I know that," he said, but I could still see the doubt in his face.

"How about I go distract him so he won't notice that you're not busy?" I asked.

"He really is a lucky son of a ..."

"_Lester,"_ Bobby said, cutting him off again.

I rolled my eyes at all three of them this time. I saved what I'd been working on and stood, stretching out the muscles that had stiffened while I'd been busy saving Ranger's company from a hostile takeover. Okay, so maybe that was an exaggeration, but if I didn't do a thorough enough check on someone Ranger was thinking about hiring, or doing business with, it _could _happen.

"Thank you, Lester," I said to him,"but I think_ I'm _the lucky one." Thinking of not only Ranger, but these pains in the butt, too.

"Doubt it, Steph," Lester said."Bossman definitely got the better deal."

"Let's move it, Santos," Bobby said to him,"before you get your ass kicked."

"Why?" Lester asked."What'd I say?"

I shook my head at them as they walked off. I think I saw Hal do the same, but I couldn't say for sure. Ranger wanted me to move around freely in his space, so I decided to make use of my girlfriend/fiance privileges by asking him about dinner now instead of waiting until the end of the day. I wanted a break from my desk anyway, and the guys provided me with a good excuse.

I walked down the hall to Ranger's office and knocked on the door. I waited until I heard a _'come in' _from the other side before I made a move to open it. I wouldn't mind interrupting him if the door had been open, but since it was closed there was probably a reason for it to be.

I poked my head around the door and saw Tank sitting in the chair in front of Ranger's desk.

"You guys busy?" I asked.

"What's up, Babe?"

I walked over to Ranger and somehow ended up sitting across his lap. I didn't bother arguing about it anymore. What was the point? Ranger wouldn't budge and I didn't really want him to. Tank had a small smile on his face as he watched us. I leaned back against Ranger's chest so I'd also be able to talk to Tank.

"The strangest thing just happened to me. I was asked out to dinner," I told them, and saw the nearly unshockable Tank raise his eyebrows."Actually, I was asked out by three men for the same night."

"Who do I have to kill now?" Ranger asked.

"Are you sure you didn't misunderstand, Steph?" Tank asked."No one is dumb enough to hit on Ranger's woman."

"Nope. I heard them correctly," I assured Tank."The Merry Men are throwing me a bridal shower tomorrow."

"That explains it," Tank said."Dumb asses."

"Babe," Ranger said, drawing my attention back to him,"my men can disable bombs, assassinate evil dictators, and live off of ground weevils if they have to, but they cannot throw a _bridal shower_."

"You're right about that," I told Ranger."They don't have the stomach for it. One mention of_ Bridal Bingo _and I heard both Bobby and Lester whimper. That's why they asked me to accompany them to Pino's instead."

"Am I invited?" Ranger asked.

"I managed to wrangle you an invitation," I said to him.

"They were probably hoping to have you all to themselves for the evening," Ranger said.

I laughed."Not Hal. I think he's afraid he'll get in trouble by association."

"He's a good man," Tank said."And he knows what he's doing when it comes to his job, but any other time he's got the nerves of a fourteen-year-old girl."

"Don't pick on Hal, Tank," I told him."Just because he doesn't make people crap themselves with one look doesn't mean there's something wrong with him."

"Hal doesn't need you to defend him, Steph," Ranger said."He has his own reputation outside your cubby."

It was then that I remembered Ranger taking Tank and Hal to 'question' Anton Ward, the Slayer I sort of kidnapped when I was being threatened by Junkman. Maybe I underestimated Hal just as much as the guys needled him. I'd have to start looking at him as more than just Halosaurus.

"So, do you want to be my date tomorrow, too?" I asked Ranger.

"Sure, Babe," Ranger said."I wouldn't want Lester to confuse a bridal shower with a bachelorette party."

"I never thought about that," I said, more to myself than to Ranger and Tank."I wonder what a Rangeman bachelorette party would be like." God knows any one of the men could moonlight as a Chippendale's dancer. They could even star in their ownshow. _Seductive Security Specialists, _maybe. Or _Beefy Bodyguards_. _Passionate Protectors_? _The Racy Men of Rangeman? _No, Ranger would have a cow if his name was linked to anything like that.

"You can stop wondering," Ranger said, breaking into my thoughts,"because it's never going to happen."

"I had a feeling you were going to say that. What about you, Tank? You're coming, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it, Steph?"

"Good. So anything fun going on in here?" I asked.

"Not really," Ranger said."We're going over budget reports for the week right now."

"You guys do that?" I asked."Don't you have an accountant to handle that kind of stuff?"

"I do, but I don't sign anything I haven't read myself," Ranger said to me,"so Tank and I go over everything first."

"Wow." So much for thinking that Ranger had tech-savvy elves living in the basement cranking out money whenever he needed it. That was almost as good a fantasy as a Rangeman bachelorette party.

"I don't want to know, do I?" Ranger asked, studying my expression.

"Nope," I told him and kissed his cheek."Since you two are discussing budgets, am I getting a raise?"

"No."

I looked up at him."Why not?"

"You wouldn't accept it if I did offer you one," Ranger said.

As much as I liked the thought of more money, he was right. I wouldn't take anything more unless I had earned it. And I couldn't imagine wanting to spend any more hours sitting on my ass in front of a computer.

"Can I write off my lunches at least?" I asked.

"Sure, Babe," he said."What's mine is yours."

"Or it will be once you two get hitched," Tank said.

"I don't really need anything," I told him.

"You sure, Steph?" Ranger asked.

"Yup. You already gave me a car that's still in one piece," I said."I'm not pushing my luck."

Tank shook his head at us.

"Stop shaking your head, Tank," I told him."You could have all of this yourself if you wanted to."

"I don't," Tank said after a minute, probably reliving his near miss with Lula."At least, not at this point in my life."

"Jeez," I said, cutting my eyes to Ranger,"where have I heard _that_ before?"

"When is this supposed to happen, anyway?" Tank asked.

"When is _what _going to happen?" I asked him."The dinner?"

"No. The wedding."

I looked at Ranger again."I don't know. We haven't really discussed a date."

"The only thing we've discussed is your not wanting Elvis there," Ranger said to me.

I smiled at him.

"Care to explain why Elvis would be at your wedding when he's been dead for over thirty years?" Tank asked."Even Ranger couldn't pull that one off."

"It was Ranger's attempt at helping me," I told Tank."He said if I didn't want to plan a wedding, we could always head to Vegas."

"It would work," Tank said to me,"but Ella would be pissed."

"So would my mother."

"Babe, they're not the ones getting married."

"True, but they are our family," I told him,"and I'd hate to not have them there."

"The guys are going to want to be there, too," Tank said."This is big news around here."

"Crap. I haven't given any of this much thought," I said."The only thing I'm sure of is that I want the wedding to be soon. I don't want to draw it out over a long period of time, where it'll be in danger of getting bigger and more complicated with every month that passes."

"How soon, Babe?" Ranger asked.

"I don't know. A month? Two months?" I said."Will that work for you?"

"Steph, tomorrow would work for me."

"You two are disgusting," Tank said."It's a good thing Trenton's criminal element can't see you now."

"I can take down every one of them single-handedly without breaking a sweat, and they all know it," Ranger said to Tank."And I've made it clear that they don't deserve, or inspire, this kind of treatment from me."

"See," I said to them,"I'm_ 'special'_. That word has been applied to me many times since I was little, but now I see that it's actually a good thing. And that I_ am _special_._ In_ all _ways. Good and bad."

"You are, Steph," Tank said to me."Special in the _good_ way. Don't let anyone tell you differently. You have to be something to put up with Ranger."

"Put up with him how?" I asked Tank."He's surprisingly easy to be with."

Tank looked doubtful.

"Thanks, Babe," Ranger said."I've been trying for years to get them to see that they're all lucky to have me for a boss."

"Ranger, you're easy to be with_ personally_," I told him,"but you _are_ a bit of a tyrant at work."

"_That_ I'll agree with," Tank said.

"I'm not a tyrant, Steph."

"You demand gym time from everybody but me, a minimum of two hours a week at the gun range, only healthy snacks are allowed in the building. Need I go on?"

"That's not unreasonable," Ranger said."It's nothing that I don't do myself."

"And that's why the men respect you so much," I told him,"because you don't have the _do as I say not as I do _personality. But not everyone can handle that."

"You've coped with it pretty well so far."

"Thanks, but that's because Ella likes me, and I can stop at Tasty Pastry anytime the mood strikes."

"Maybe the men should have suggested having their 'shower' here, and have Tasty Pastry cater it," Tank said with a smile.

Hmm. Now that he brought it up, I was thinking that wasn't such a bad idea until I intercepted the look Ranger shot Tank.

Tank put both hands up in front of him."Just a suggestion."

"Yeah, a bad one," Ranger said.

I shot a look at Ranger."It's not a _bad_ suggestion, but we should probably stick to Pino's. I can't imagine the guys on a sugar high."

"Good point, Babe."

"I'm surprised, Steph," Tank said to me."I'd think you'd be all for it."

"Ranger wouldn't be able to eat anything if we did that. And I think since this is for _our _engagement, it should be about both of us. Maybe for my birthday ..."

"Nice try, Steph," Ranger said,"but I know you're only saying that because you don't want to have to share."

I turned my head away from Tank and looked into Ranger's eyes again. They were amused, and I could feel myself smiling into them.

"You got me," I told him."It did sound good, didn't it?"

"Yes. Very noble."

"They do have a carrot cake doughnut," I said to Ranger."A carrot is a vegetable."

"It stops being a vegetable when it's mixed with four pounds of sugar, white flour, and hydrogenated fat."

"See, you're impossible to please. I try to find a compromise and you shoot it down."

"If I thought it meant that much to you," Ranger said to me,"I'd consider it, but you've already decided on Pino's. Bring it up again in October."

Tank chose that moment to cough, which sounded suspiciously like a muffled 'sickening'.

I took my eyes off of Ranger and narrowed them at Tank."Maybe you should be taking notes," I said to Tank."This may come in handy for when you finally meet someone."

"Fuck. I hope not," Tank said."I'm not ready for any of this shit."

My eyebrows rose halfway up my forehead."Excuse me? Did you just call what Ranger and I have together _shit_?"

"Sorry," he said."That's not what I meant exactly. Back to the wedding. So you're looking at thirty to sixty days from now. What else do you want?"

"I want it to be someplace small," I said to them."Only big enough for our family and friends."

"Are you thinking about inviting all the men here?" Ranger asked.

"Any who want to come."

"We'll need a bigger place then. I employ a lot of people here, unless you only want to invite the men you're closest to."

"No," I said."I don't want to pick and choose between them."

"Babe, remember this is about what _you_ want," Ranger told me."The men will understand."

"I'm not changing things because of them," I said to Ranger."I honestly like all the guys. And if they want to come celebrate with us, I want them to be able to. But maybe we can limit it to just them and skip the 'and guest' part."

"They'll be fine with that," Tank said."It'll be less hassle for the ones who aren't seeing anyone right now."

"Like you?" I asked him.

"Steph," Ranger said,"stop picking on Tank."

"But he's making it so easy."

"Remember when you were scared shitless of me?" Tank asked.

"Not very well," I said, even though I can still picture Tank throwing that guy out the window when I first worked with him.

"I'm losing my touch," Tank said quietly.

"No, you're not," I assured him."It's just that I can see beneath the Terminator-like persona you all have. You guys are more like Kevlar-covered teddy bears to me now."

"_Teddy bears_?" Tank said, in a tone that said I'd offended him more with that comment than I would have if I'd insulted his mother.

"Babe, don't repeat that," Ranger said."We need to keep people afraid of us."

"I just meant that I can see who you guys really are under all your blank stares, standoffish dispositions, and multiple weapons," I told them."And you don't have to worry about still terrifying everyone, you'll see just how scared people are when you all descend on Pino's tomorrow."

"Is that why you chose to eat there instead of Shorty's?" Ranger asked me.

"Maybe the thought of Rangeman taking over the Burg had occurred to me."

"We've eaten there before, Steph," Tank said.

"But this is different. It will be a group of us together," I told him."Without any threat hanging over the evening, no stalkers to guard me from, just us out having fun celebrating something that we're all happy about. Everyone will be able to just relax and enjoy the night for once."

"Be careful, Babe," Ranger said."Lester, Bobby, and Ramon relaxed isn't something you want to witness."

"I'm sure we'll be able to keep an eye on them."

"Steph, if you think your nieces are a handful, they don't compare at all to Brown and Santos."

"They'll be fine," I told Ranger,"or I'll uninvite them to the wedding."

"No you won't," Ranger said.

"No, I won't," I said."But I can threaten to."

Tank shook his head at us again and I chose to ignore him this time.

"Since Tank brought it up, when do you want to get serious about a plan?" Ranger asked.

"Let's enjoy tomorrow night and then we'll get down to business."

"Sure, Babe."

"I should let you guys get back to work," I said, making a move to stand.

"Worried about losing your job?" Ranger asked, stopping me.

"Not really," I said."I think my job is pretty secure."

"Because you're marrying the guy who owns the place?" Tank asked.

"No, because no one else wants it," I told them."Everyone who stops in while I'm working says something along the lines of how they'd rather get tortured, shot repeatedly, or let loose in a swamp full of hungry alligators, than do what I do all day long."

"I see your point," Ranger said.

"Yup. I've got job security. I'd much rather do searches than any of those other things," I said."So my cozy little cubby is safe."

"Would you be interested in branching out?" Ranger asked.

"Doing what?"

"Learning about the instillation process, talking with clients before and after a break in, consultations which involve security placement," Ranger said."You did help out with the Summerburne account."

"Who?"

"The jewelry store owner."

"I remember him now," I said."Sure. Ihave beencurious about what goes on behind the scenes here. What about my skips?"

"We can work around them," Ranger told me."We'll figure out a schedule and the days that you don't have to apprehend anyone you can try your hand at something new until you decide what you'd like to focus on. Or if you're worried about being bored, you're welcome to keep up with all of it."

I looked over at Tank."And you're okay with this?" I asked him.

"Not my company."

"_Tank_."

"I think you'd excel at camera placement when setting up systems," Tank said,"since you have experience with what women are concerned about. And you also know where assholes like to hole up."

"Thanks," I told him."Is that your way of saying that I'm useful because I'm a girl who attracts a lot of unstable people?"

"It does give you an advantage," Tank told me.

"Okay, I'm going to let that one go. Remember what we talking about this morning?" I asked Ranger.

"Yes," Ranger said.

"Well ... it got me thinking, and you guys seem to be in no hurry to get back to work either, so I wanted to run something by you."

"I can leave," Tank said, starting to rise.

"Tank, sit," I told him."You can probably help me out, too."

"What is it, Babe?"

"Well," I said to both of them,"now that we're getting married and everything, I thought this would be a good time to get_ all _parts of my life straightened out."

"What do you mean?" Ranger asked me.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, willing the words out of my mouth."I want to start working out regularly from now on." There, I said it.

"Huh?" Tank said, summing up the look that was on Ranger's face.

"You want to run that by me again?" Ranger said.

I smacked Ranger's chest."You heard me the first time. It's not that big of a deal. It's just that I'm about to be Mrs. Manoso, or Mrs. Plum-Manoso, or Stephanie Plum who is married to Manoso, and I don't want to embarrass you."

"Babe, you could never embarrass me."

"Yeah, Steph," Tank said,"no one views you as an embarrassment."

"Thanks guys, but what I should have said is that I don't want to embarrass_ me _anymore. I think it's time that I stop using my inexperience as an excuse for being crappy at my job, and actually get some experience. Or have someone with experience help me out a little. I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I need one of you to come up with a _reasonable_," I said, looking pointedly at Ranger,"workout routine that won't be boring and that will help me apprehend reluctant FTAs. One that will also keep my jean size from increasing."

"That's asking a lot, Babe."

"No jokes," I told him."I'm completely serious here. Instead of people saying, _'That's _Ranger's wife_?' _I want them to say, _'Damn. That's Ranger's wife!' _You see the difference, right?"

"I've been around you so much, Steph," Ranger said,"that I _do_ see the difference."

"I don't," Tank said.

"That's because you're a guy," I told him."I'll try to explain it a little better. You know how men go through mid-life crises and dump their wives for twenty-year-olds with fake boobs and trade in their sedans for convertibles?"

"Yeah."

"Well, sometimes something similar will happen with women," I told him.

"I thought that was the menopause thing that everyone complains about," Tank said.

"No. That's something else entirely," I said."What I'm talking about is an event that suddenly makes you rethink your life. Like graduating from college, a divorce, the death of a friend, a suddenly empty nest if you have kids. That sort of thing, where you're left wondering how you're going to live the rest of your life. Thinking about becoming a married woman again seems to have triggered it in me."

"How so, Babe?"

Great, at least Ranger was still with me. I was having a hard time trying to say what I meant.

"I guess the easiest way to describe it is that I don't want just a different name when we get married - if I do decide to change mine - I want to become a different person along with it."

"Steph, I don't want a different person," Ranger said, cupping my face in his hand and making me look at him."I asked _you _to marry me."

I blew out a breath. This is why I don't like talking about these kinds of things. It's too complicated.

"Again, poor word choice," I told him."I just meant like a new and improved Stephanie, not a different one. I'm not giving up doughnuts or birthday cake. I'm still going to spend hours at the mall with Lula or Mary Lou, and irritate the crap out of you daily. But when it comes to my career, I want to change a few things. You guys have shown me a few ways of defending myself, but I need to learn more. I want to be able to chase someone down without worrying about having a heart attack before I catch them. And I never want to come in contact with rotting food ever again."

"And you want our help?" Tank asked.

"Yes," I told him."And if Ranger's busy, or you're not around, I want a backup hardass. I'm probably not going to be pleasant about this at first, or _ever_, but I really feel like I need to do this."

"Then we'll get it done," Ranger said."Are you going to start coming with me now without complaining?"

Hmm, spending time with Ranger or extra hours of sleep. Hard decision. But Ranger usually beat whatever he was up against. And I really did want this even if I didn't want to do it. I wasn't sure about not complaining, though.

"We can break up your routine if you want," Ranger said."Cardio in the morning and then weights and defense training in the afternoon or evening. How does that sound?"

"Better than mindlessly running on a treadmill."

"On the days you're in the building you can work on your endurance," Ranger said to me, slipping into boss mode,"and when you're out catching skips, or helping out on a Rangeman account, we'll consider it on the job training for future work."

"I guess that way both my body and brain are guaranteed a workout," I said to him.

"Quickest way to results, Babe."

"Do you have any preferences among the men here?" Tank asked."Any you feel more comfortable with than other's?"

"No," I told him."I can get along with all of them. You may need to stick with the ones who have a high threshold for pain and whining. Did I mention how much I hate exercising?"

"They can take it," Ranger said.

"And is someone finally going to teach me how to pick a lock?" I asked them.

"I'll take care of that one personally," Ranger told me.

"Thank you."

"Are you going to be asking Ella for cooking lessons next?" Ranger asked.

"No," I told him."I wouldn't want to become perfect. I still need a flaw or two to stay interesting."

"Babe, staying interesting is never going to be a problem for you."

"I didn't think so," I said."So if I learn how to prevent a break in, how to break into a place on my own, kick butt if someone comes after me, chase them down after they do, and cuff them without getting dirty, what else would I need to know?"

"You know what I'm going to say, Steph," Ranger said to me.

I blew out a sigh. I knew what was coming."Yeah, the gun range."

"It_ is _necessary, Steph," Tank added.

"I know, I just hate that place more than the gym."

"I know you do," Ranger said,"but I'll help you get through it."

"Are you thinking up ways of distracting me from it?" I asked.

"Yes. Remember when you first started working here?" Ranger asked.

"Yeah?" I said cautiously, looking at him. I didn't know where he was going with this.

"I'm sure your '_uniform'_ could make a reappearance."

"Huh?" And then I knew exactly what he was talking about. The fight with Morelli, and how I'd changed my clothes to piss Joe off. The spandex pants I'd worn commando, and the little wrap shirt that left some of my stomach and most of my chest bare. My cheeks got warm when I thought of Ranger's hand nearing the waistband, ready to find out what I was wearing underneath them. I shifted on Ranger's lap and could tell that he was reliving the moment, too. We forgot all about Tank for a second until he decided to spoil the moment.

"Just make sure the cameras are scrambled," Tank said."We have impressionable minds working here."

I shook my head to clear the memory from it."You're getting to be just as bad as Lester," I told Tank.

"No need to be insulting," Tank said to me."I'm just thinking about _you_ here."

"And I _really_ appreciate it," I said, heavy on the sarcasm. I was almost positive that by the time the wedding date rolls around, Tank will be rolling his eyes right along with me."Okay, I'll add marksman to my list of talents. Will I qualify as a Rangeman then?"

"Babe, if you do everything that we've talked about, you'll be qualified for _my_ job."

"That's okay," I told him."I don't want it. You work too hard. And you have to deal with high-maintenance clients. Plus, I can only boss around one person at a time."

"That's good to know," Tank said,"but it won't help tomorrow night."

"But you guys will be there," I said."What good is having a security company at my fingertips if you can't keep a few men in line?"

"You have _Ranger _at your fingertips," Tank said to me,"you don't need the rest of us."

"I still want everyone who can make it to come," I said."Maybe I should call ahead and warn Pino."

"Can he keep it quiet?" Ranger asked.

"For me he will. I think," I said."Okay, now I really should be going. I have to tell Lester that tomorrow's a go. Is there a time that's good for you?"

"Anytime after six," Ranger said.

"That okay with you, Tank?"

"Barring any emergency, I'll be there."

"It's going to be a great night," I said to them."I can feel it."

"Could go either way," Ranger said.

"Party pooper," I told him.

"Steph, you're the only one who could get away with speaking to your boss like that."

"I can't kick everyone's ass, but I can bait the man who can. That's something."

"Don't worry, Babe," Ranger said,"pretty soon you'll be able to do both. When do you want to start? I can work with you until we get a specific program designed for you."

I blew out a breath."Okay, if I'm serious about getting better, I guess I have to actually do what it takes to get there."

"That's the spirit, Steph," Tank said.

"What do you say, Babe, are you joining me?" Ranger asked.

"Yes," I said."You know, I'm seeing more men now than I did in all the years of my twenties combined."

"Babe."

"And I'm enjoying this more than I probably should," I told him."But how often does a woman get to have a building full of men as dates without being called a slut, or _worse_?"

"Get used to it, Steph," Tank said."I have a feeling tomorrow night won't be the last time this happens."

"If they don't watch themselves, it will be," Ranger said.

"They'll be good," I told Ranger, pressing a kiss to the muscle flexing in his jaw."And _we're_ going to be good."

"We already are, Babe."

"_Fucking disgusting_," Tank said again.

"Don't worry, I'm leaving," I told him."I'll go fill Lester in and get the rest of my work finished. Are you going to be later than six?"

"No," Ranger said."In fact, we should only be another hour."

"So if I hadn't interrupted you, we would have had an early day?"

"You can distract me anytime you want, Babe."

"Yeah, Steph," Tank said."Feel free to interrupt next week when we have to go over all the new hires."

"You make it sound like your work is as exciting as mine," I said.

"Only some days," Tank said."The skips and break ins usually help with the monotony."

"Well I'm not going to wish for more break ins or any dangerous skips, so I'll just say that I hope you guys get everything done quickly," I said to them. I gave Ranger a quick kiss and slid off his lap."Are you picking me up at my desk when you're done here?"

"Yes," Ranger said.

"If I'm not there," I told him, walking to the door,"check with Lester. He's always trying to get me to do something he wants to avoid."

"Like what?" Ranger asked.

"Last week he wanted me to use one of my programs to find a woman he met at a club. And another time he tried to get me to pretend to be his girlfriend so his mother would leave him alone about settling down because he still prefers to meet women in clubs." I saw Ranger's mouth tighten. To protect Lester's overall health, I quickly finished what I was telling them."Needless to say, I didn't do it. And he got smacked by both me and Ram, who had been walking by and heard him."

"I always liked Ram," Ranger said.

"Lester doesn't get away with much around here," I told Ranger."If you're not here to watch out for me, I've got at least three guys around who are." It sounded like it should be confining, but once I realized they were doing it on their own, I felt more cared for than caged.

"I would say that's how I planned it," Ranger said,"but they're doing it because they like you."

"And I like them, too," I said,"but not enough to hover over them like they do to me."

Tank laughed and Ranger's lips twitched. I waved at them and went to look for Lester. I found him getting a bottle of water from the fridge in the control room kitchen.

"Dinner at Pino's at six-thirty tomorrow. Ranger's coming and so is Tank, barring an emergency." I said, quoting Tank.

"Cool," Lester said."I'll let everyone know."

"Do we have a projected number of '_everyone_'?" I asked.

"Probably ten to fifteen including me, Bobby, Hal, Tank, you, and the Boss."

Yep, definitely a heads up for the people at Pino's, I thought.

"I'll be in my cubby if you need to ask me anything else," I said.

"Since you brought it up ..."

"No," I told him."Whatever it is,_ no_."

"I just have one report that needs to be retyped," Lester said."You're so much better at that crap than me."

"Bye, Lester," I said, as I walked back to my desk fighting back a smile.

I never thought in a million years that I'd be here, getting complimented by Tank, goading Lester without worrying about payback, and looking forward to a dinner with all of them. But now that I _am_ here, I plan on enjoying every second of it.


	8. Chapter 8

**By the time I finished writing this chapter, it actually turned out longer than my final chapter of Gotcha, and I didn't want to cut anything out of it, so I decided to break it up into two smaller ones. All characters belong to Janet. The mistakes are mine.**

**Chapter 8**

The day was less exciting after I finished talking to Ranger and Tank and escaped a typing plea from Lester. By the time Ranger walked into my cubby a little before five, I had the work I'd ditched earlier completed, my life for the most part figured out, and an interesting night to look forward to.

I've eaten out with the guys multiple times before, but it had usually been part of a security detail, or a quick burger on the way back from a job. But tomorrow is going to be something else entirely.

"Ready, Babe?" Ranger asked me.

I shutdown my computer right before Ranger pulled me out of my chair.

"Yep," I told him."I'm ready for anything you can dream up."

"Careful what you say to me, Steph," he told me."My dreams are very _active_ when you're starring in them."

"I think I know what we can discuss over dinner."

"Your new commitment to health?"

I rolled my eyes and then punched him in the arm.

"Honeymoon over already?" Lester asked, sticking his head inside my cubby.

"I thought you went home a while ago," I said to him. I slid my arm around Ranger and tucked my head under his arm.

"No," Lester said."_Someone_ wouldn't help a guy out, so I had to stay a little later. Not to make that person feel guilty or anything, but it was _my_ idea to take you out tomorrow."

I tried Ranger's one eyebrow look, but both went up anyway.

"Really?"

"Okay, it was Hal and Bobby," Lester said to me,"but I asked you about it, so I get points for that."

"What is this I hear about you trying to get Stephanie to do your dirty work?" Ranger asked him.

Lester looked over at me with a classic Scooby Doo "ruh-roh" expression.

"Ranger tortured the information out of me," I told Lester.

"What'd he do? Make puppy eyes at you until you shoved your friend in front of the firing squad?"

"_Puppy eyes_?" Ranger asked.

I focused on the important part of what Lester had said.

"You consider me one of your friends?"

"Of course, I do," he said to me."What kind of stupid question is that?"

"_Santos_," Ranger said, his tone sharp.

"What I should have said, is that after all the shit," he said, stopping for a second when Ranger gave him a look,"after all the_ stuff _we've been through, we couldn't be anything but."

"That's sweet, Lester," I said to him."Thank you. Now I'm starting to feel guilty for not helping you."

"Don't, Babe. You don't need to do anything more to gain their loyalty," Ranger said, tightening his arm around me and pulling me closer to his chest."That being said, Santos can't be choosy. Not many people can put up with him."

"Just when I think she has mellowed you out some," Lester said to Ranger,"you prove me wrong."

"You think_ I _would make him mellow?" I asked Lester."I generate stress and cause nail-biting. I'm definitely not a zen-inducing kind of woman."

Lester looked at me for a beat before shaking his head.

"One of these days, Steph, you'll see just how much you have changed Ranger," Lester said, finally."Changed all of us, really."

"Who are you, and what have you done with Lester?" I asked.

I've seen Lester pissed off, being a wiseass, and also somewhat of a man-slut, but this is another side of him. I don't know why I hadn't expected it. I know every man who works here is multi-layered, and Lester would be no different. But hearing him say that he likes me for who I am, and not treating me differently because of my association with Ranger, to know that these men saw me as more than a disaster magnet or Ranger's 'woman', created all kinds of warm, fuzzy feelings in me.

"There isn't anyone like me, Steph. No one else could handle being designed this perfectly."

"Oh brother."

"What?" Lester asked."You can't handle the truth?"

"Have you run out of lines already and have to steal them from movies now?" Ranger asked.

"No. I've got an arsenal of great lines, but I didn't need one here. I'm heading home. We're still on for tomorrow?"

"Yep. You can't back out now," I told him."I already talked to Pino and he's looking forward to the business."

"Do you have an in with any other place?" Lester asked me.

"If you play your cards right, I can get you a doughnut discount and maybe free nachos at the gas station."

"No, Babe. My men aren't eating _'food' _that comes from a place that does brake jobs."

I shrugged."Your loss. If you're really nice, they'll even double up on the fake cheese sauce."

"I think I'll pass on the cheese food," Lester told me,"but I'd never turn down a discounted doughnut unless it was starting to look too much like a bagel."

"Let me know when you're free," I said to Lester,"and it's a date."

"Stop doing that, Steph," Ranger said.

"Doing what? Planning my day around food?"

"No. Making dates with the people I employ."

"But you're the man I always go home with," I said, smiling up at him.

"And go to work with, have dinner with, and sleep with, too," Lester added."You should be good and sick of him by now."

"Nope. I'm not sick of Ranger _at all_," I told them."Must be something addictive in his shower gel."

"Babe."

"Okay, it's more than the shower gel. _A lot _more," I said under my breath.

Ranger kissed the loose curls at my temple which made me think he caught that.

"If you ever need a change ..." Lester said, giving me a wink.

"If you're not gone in two seconds, Santos," Ranger said, not amused,"I'll make you go away indefinitely. And you won't like how I choose to accomplish it."

Lester started backing out of my cubby."I'm not feeling suicidal tonight so I'll just be taking off now."

"He was always a slow learner," Ranger said to me, as we watched Lester make his way to the stairs.

"He's a good guy," I said."You chose well for this company."

"Some days I wonder," Ranger said."You coming with me now?"

"Yes. I did just say that I always go home with you, didn't I?"

"Feeling a little feisty, Babe?"

"Yup."

Ranger grinned at me, slipped his fingers through mine, and tugged me to the elevator. Yay! No stairs!

"That's another thing we have to discuss," Ranger said, when we stepped into the elevator.

"What?"

"Where you're going to want to live," he said.

"I thought you'd just move into my apartment with me after we got married," I told him.

"This is a serious decision we have to make, Steph."

"How do you know I'm not serious?"

"Babe, _you_ didn't even want to live there and you rented the place."

"True," I said, when the doors opened."It is a hideous little place, but it's been my hideous little place."

Ranger opened the door to his apartment and followed me in. We walked to the kitchen and plated up the dinner Ella had left for us. My apartment sucked in comparison to this place based on Ella alone. After Ranger opened a bottle of wine and poured us each a glass, we sat down at the dining room table to eat.

"You don't have to decide now," Ranger said, picking up the conversation he had started in the elevator."It's just something we need to talk about. Do you want to move in here? Should we look for a house away from Rangeman? And when would you want to move, before or after the wedding?"

I took a bite of the roasted chicken that might have beat out my mother's, and thought about my answers.

"I used to think that _agreeing_ to a wedding was the hard part, followed closely by planning it, but I forgot about everything else."

"It's only as difficult as you want to make it, Stephanie."

I blew out a breath."Okay, I'll take this one question at a time," I said to him."I'm already here most of the time, so it seems dumb to wait to move in the rest of my stuff until after the wedding."

"That sounds promising," Ranger said, as if me saying that somehow changed what we've been doing.

"I like living here, but I wouldn't be opposed to having someplace to go on the weekend or when you can get some time off."

"That can be arranged."

"_Together_, Ranger," I warned him."I'm not asking you to buy me a house."

"And if I want to buy you three houses?"

"Then I'd tell you that you're frickin' crazy. I know that you have_ waaaay _more money than me, and I'm glad that you have been successful in everything you've set out to do, but I don't want our life to be divided into his and hers. I want it to be _ours_. If we do find a house,_ both _of our names will be on the paperwork and _both _of our money will be invested in it."

"I had no plans on making you a kept woman, Steph," Ranger said."Anything I do, and have done, for you is because I love and care about you."

"I know that, Ranger," I told him, pressing a quick kiss to his lips."That's why I didn't really argue when you wanted me to borrow your cars. I knew you weren't doing it as a way of getting leverage to use against me."

"I don't use people like that," he said."Except for a few residents of Stark."

I smiled and pushed away from him.

We finished our dinner, and after a second glass of wine, I started carrying the dishes back to the kitchen. Ranger picked up our glasses and came with me.

I was extremely aware of Ranger watching me move around the kitchen, so I used it to my advantage. Bending over to look for the chocolate pudding cup hidden in the bottom of the fridge, even though I ate it two days ago. I stretched to reach the crackers on the second shelf so my shirt would lift up and expose a little skin along my stomach, when I could have just given Rex a few grapes from the fridge I was just in. And once Rex was set, I put my hands on my lower back, thrusting my chest forward while pretending that I was straightening a kinked muscle, when really I was doing my best to turn Ranger on without touching him. _Yet_. Ranger was good at using just his words to get me hot, and I wanted to see if I could get the same results with a few 'innocent' movements.

Ranger hadn't budged, and it was suddenly so quiet in the kitchen that I actually thought something was wrong. I turned to him, and was about to ask what happened - maybe Tank ESP'd something important while I was busying trying to bait Batman - but as soon as I saw his eyes I knew that _I_ was the something important that happened. His eyes were dilated, his breathing seemed to have changed, and his mouth was set in a determined line. Uh-oh.

He took a step towards me and I was thinking that I was about to be the next meal served on the breakfast bar.

"Um, Ranger," I said, my breathing now similar to his."We can't do this in front of Rex."

Ranger took another step and was now in touching range.

"You think I don't have enough self-control to wait until we get to the bedroom?"

"Judging by the way you look now ... no," I said to him, getting less concerned about Rex the closer Ranger got.

"I would say that you're right," he said, hoisting me over his shoulder,"but I can get both of us there quickly."

Instead of wasting time complaining about him tossing me around like a sack of potatoes, I reached for his waistband, tugging his shirt out of it so I could get to the Bulgari-scented skin underneath. When my hands finally hit the mocha motherload, Ranger flipped me off his shoulder and onto the bed.

I thought we were headed straight for big O country when Ranger settled his body on top of mine, but he just cradled my face in his hands and traced it gently with his thumbs before slowly lowering his head. He continued to kiss me without touching anything else. It was sweet, but also frustrating as hell. There were a few other places begging for his attention.

After a few minutes of mouth to mouth contact - or more accurately tongue to tongue contact - Ranger lifted himself off me, losing his shirt in the process. Which made my eyes and hands extremely happy. The former looked on while the latter went to investigate. Ranger got rid of everything of mine except for my matching bra and panties._ Now _I was going to complain. Well, I was until he started teasing me through both, first with his fingers, then his mouth. I was squirming from the need to feel him without the barrier of material between us. That's what I opened my mouth to explain to him, but all that came out of it was his name sounding like a cross between a moan and a groan.

"Did you want something, Babe?" He asked, when he picked his head up from where it had been between my legs.

"_Yesss_," I hissed, because while he was talking, Ranger's hand moved to take his mouth's place, and he knew right where to touch for maximum impact."I want you to continue what you were doing, but with less clothes."

"Less clothes on me or on you?"

"Both!" I said louder than I should have, but his finger had slipped under the edge of my panties close to the promised land, so staying quiet wasn't an option.

"Haven't you heard the saying about anticipation being better than the reality?"

"Not where you're concerned," I told him.

To get him to see that, I popped the button on his cargos, quickly got the zipper down, and reached inside. Yep, commando is good. Convenient, too. Once my other hand joined the first, Ranger was repeatedly _encouraged _to chuck my underthings and help me work off some of the tension he had created. I could feel Ranger's lips, teeth, and tongue on every part of me he touched. And I was more than happy to reciprocate on a few _harder_ areas of his body. We were both covered with a thin sheen of sweat when Ranger gathered me to his chest and covered us with a blanket. I closed my eyes, and the last thing I felt before falling asleep was Ranger kissing the top of my head.

The day of my bridal shower - I didn't care, I was still calling it that - flew by. Rangeman was busy between two break-ins, one on a home and another on a business, and a skip that Binkie and Ram brought in that resulted in a bruised cheek bone for Binkie and I'm guessing worse for the FTA before he got to the station. Ranger was out of the building for most of the day, checking on the break-ins and meeting Tank at another job site, and Rodriguez had been especially cruel to me today. I went to the control room kitchen for a bottle of water - I was gone for a minute tops - and I had a full inbox when I got back to my desk. This would be the perfect night to go out and have some fun. We were all going to need it.

I didn't see Ranger until he came into the apartment around five thirty while I was trying to decide what to wear to Pino's.

"Hey, Babe," Ranger said, kissing me before dumping his utility belt on top of the dresser.

"I didn't think you were going to make it," I said, wrapping my arms around him.

It was stupid. I saw Ranger less than twelve hours ago and I still missed the crap out of him. I was hopeless. Unsettled, unromantic, emotionally-unattached, Stephanie Plum was quickly changing. And I wasn't sorry to see the old me go. As much as I hated when Joe said that I should grow up, he was right. And I seem to be a lot closer to the woman I knew was hiding inside me just waiting to be let out. The woman Ranger said he saw in me five minutes after we met.

Ranger rested on his hands on my hips and looked down at me.

"I wouldn't miss this," he said."I'm waiting to see how long it takes for Santos and Ramon to get their asses kicked."

I tipped my head back."There will be _no_ fighting tonight."

"I was kidding, Babe. They know they'll be in serious trouble if they ruin this night for you. They've all been warned to be on their best behavior. I'm going to take a quick shower while you get dressed, unless you want to be a few minutes late and join me?"

"No way," I told him."I just got my hair the way I want it, I'm not doing _anything_ to mess it up now."

"I come in second to your hair?"

"Tonight, yes."

"The men don't care about your hair, Babe," Ranger told me.

"But_ I _care about my hair, and that is all that's important," I said. If people were going to retell every detail of our night out, I wanted my hair to get an honorable mention.

Ranger kissed me below my ear and took a step back."Get dressed, Steph. I'll be ready to go in a few minutes."

He wasn't lying. I'd still be pulling on my clothes, or putting earrings in, and Ranger would be waiting for me by the front door. That's why I did my hair and makeup already. All I had left to do was figure out what I want to wear and put it on.

Ranger hit the shower and I went back to the closet. I knew that some of the men would be going straight to Pino's when their shifts ended, or heading here after dinner, and I didn't want them to feel uncomfortable because they were still in uniform so I went with a dressier version of casual.

I decided on a black scoop neck top with leather accents above the little cap sleeves that fit close to my body. I paired it with black skinny jeans and the boots I wore on my last distraction job. It turned out a little more on the dressy side than I intended, but I didn't change. I figured tonight did deserved a little more effort.

I stood in front of the full length mirror and checked out the finished product. I thought I looked like I belonged with the guys, but I didn't look like them. That's pretty much how I'm going to approach my impending marriage. I want to have skills like Ranger and the guys, just not so much that I lost myself trying to become them. My outfit seemed girly while still appearing like I could kick some ass if I needed to.

"You can attempt to kick my ass anytime you want, Babe," Ranger said, looking me over in the mirror."It might be fun."

I can think of lots of things to do with Ranger, but kicking his ass wouldn't figure into them. Digging my nails into it on the other hand ...

"And here I was thinking that I did a good job of wearing you out last night," Ranger said, standing against my back and kissing the side of my neck,"but you look like you're ready to come back for more."

"Uh-huh," I murmured. And then more after that.

"Never thought I'd come across a woman who was in danger of exhausting me," he said, against my ear.

"That's probably the _only_ thing that I've never worried about," I told him.

"We can put it to the test later," Ranger told me, turning me away from the mirror,"but we have someplace to be."

I picked up my bag and Ranger locked up behind us. We took the elevator which meant that we didn't run into any of the guys until we parked in the lot of Pino's.

Bobby and Ram pulled in next to us. Guess carpooling wasn't just limited to school drop-offs.

"This has been one hell of a long day," Bobby said to us.

"I'd kill for a beer," Ram said.

"Uh, maybe you should refrain from using the word _kill_ while we're here," I said to him."The Burg doesn't have a sense of humor, and they might not realize that you're joking."

"Who said I was joking?"

Ram and I have a developed a pretty good friendship. It started when I finally managed to get Ranger to waive Ram's punishment after the Tavish incident. It took two weeks to convince Ranger to do it, but it saved Ram another two weeks of sore muscles and monster-sized bruises, so he had been grateful.

"You'd better be. You know how much I hate getting arrested."

He grinned at me.

Bobby gave me an appreciative glance before slinging an arm around me."You really clean up beautifully, Steph," he said to me.

Ranger physically removed Bobby's arm from my person."You're lucky I'm in a good mood, Brown. Go find your own date, and keep your hands off of _mine_."

"You're forgetting that we asked her to dinner first," Bobby told him.

God, if they were acting like this _now, _I didn't want to be around when the beer and useless carbs hit their bloodstreams.


	9. Chapter 9

**I hope this two chapter update will make up for neglecting this story while I was finishing Gotcha and working on After The Night. Everything, and everyone, familiar belongs to Janet.**

**Chapter 9**

Ranger pushed open Pino's scarred oak door for me. When I walked into the dimly lit restaurant, I glanced around the place and saw that there was a couple of off duty cops at the bar, and a few parents waiting for takeout at the register. It was late enough for most of the families with small children to have already left, and it was too early for hospital employees to get off work. We had the place mostly to ourselves. I also noticed the four tables pushed together in close proximity to the bar. It seemed that everyone had beat us here except for Bobby and Ram.

"Wow," I said to Bobby."It looks like the control room has been transplanted here."

"There were a lot of shift switches with the new hires," Bobby told me."All the guys who have been around long enough to wonder if this engagement was _ever _gonna happen wanted to be here to commemorate it."

I'm glad I went with waterproof mascara just in case.

"I told Lester to save us seats," Bobby said, nodding across the room at Lester.

I saw Tank and Lester sitting at one of the tables with three empty seats around them. I guess Ram was out of luck.

Ranger's hand rested on the small of my back as we crossed the room to get to Tank and Lester's table. And just as I thought, the majority of guys were in Rangeman black. I'd be able to tell who was stuck working the night shift just by where the beer bottles are placed. Ranger didn't allow his men to get drunk if he could stop it, and not even a beer with food is permitted if the men were on duty or going to be soon.

"We're in luck," I said to Ranger."We get to sit at the captain's table."

"Luck had nothing to do with it," Ranger said."_You're_ the guest of honor."

"I thought we're both the guests of honor?"

"They wouldn't have done this for anyone but you, Babe."

"He's right," Lester said, as we approached the table."Ranger's not as nice to look at."

I cut my eyes to Ranger, and had to disagree. He chose to wear a dress shirt open at the collar with the sleeves rolled up instead of his Rangeman T-shirt. He looked and smelled more appetizing than the food being prepared in the kitchen.

"Are you planning on joining us?" Tank asked."Or are you going to just stand there and flood the place with drool?"

"You can't blame me. I told you Pino's makes the best pizza."

"The food wasn't what you were lusting after," Ramon said to me.

Damn. You can't get away with anything around these guys.

Ranger pulled my chair out for me and then bent close to my ear.

"I don't mind, Babe. Feel free to lust all you want."

I guess to take up less room in the place, the guys added chairs to the ends of the their tables. Hal, Cal, Junior, and now Ram were at one table. Woody, Ramon, Vince, Caesar, and Zero at another. The last table had Binkie, Hector, Slick, Zip, and Brett sitting together. And our table was sandwiched between them. Hector has steadily been learning more english, but his accent was so heavy that some days I still thought I needed a translator. And most of the time I had to prod Brett and Zip into speaking at all. I did notice that among all the men that are here, Rodriguez wasn't one of them. He was probably sitting at home already thinking up ways of making tomorrow hell for me.

We ordered beer, a ton of pizza, and multiple sides of fries, onion rings, and mozzarella sticks. I could feel the drool coming back. Bobby handed me a wrapped box while we were waiting for the food.

"Here, Steph. We thought we should get you something special for tonight, or _cheesy_ depending on how you look at it. We can't top the ring Ranger gave you, but we thought this summed up how we all see you."

"Do I really want to open this?" I said.

"It's nothing bad, Steph," Ram said."I promise."

The restaurant was mostly quiet so we were able to talk back and forth across the tables without having to shout ... much. With these guys, there's a distinct possibility that at some point I'll miss the usual noise. I took off the bow and carefully peeled back the paper. When I removed the cover, there was a black T-shirt folded with the words _'First Lady Of Rangeman' _on the left hand side normally where 'Rangeman' and my name would be embroidered. I took it out of the box and held it up to show Ranger. It was the stretchy girl-cut T-shirt I usually wear and everything.

"Thanks, guys," I said, my voice already sounding a little nasally. I wasn't going to cry, I wasn't going to cry, I repeated in my mind as I met Ranger's eyes. He gave me a smile, and squeezed my thigh under the table.

"Lester knows a girl ..." Bobby said.

I laughed as I put the shirt back inside the box."What girl _doesn't _Lester know?" I asked.

"_Woman_," Lester said."I know a _woman_. I've heard all about your Burg gossip shit, and I don't want to be known as the pervert who likes little girls."

"Good point," I told him. Even the menus have ears in this place.

"Anyway, the _woman_ Lester knows does those touristy T-shirts at the shore, and he managed to convince her to make this one for you on short notice."

"Santos is also trying to bribe Ella into making them part of your Rangeman uniform," Tank said.

"I don't _have_ to bribe her," Lester said to us."Ella thinks the idea is _'cute'_. She would have come tonight, but she didn't want to leave the poor bastards who couldn't be here without food. The potential for a riot would have been huge."

I didn't have a chance to add my own thoughts on the subject because Tank distracted me by handing over another box. This one was small, and looked inconsequential in his massive hand, but I soon found out it was the exact opposite.

"What's this?" I asked him."You guys weren't supposed to get me anything. And what about Ranger? You shouldn't be giving me stuff and not him."

"This is a different type of present," Tank told me, his voice serious."And this could be considered a gift for Ranger as well. At least, for his peace of mind."

This box wasn't wrapped, so all I had to do was lift the top of it. It doesn't sound that hard to do, but my fingers were shaking slightly. There was a small phone/address book inside. I put the box on the table and picked up the book, thumbing through the pages. I noticed that some of the guys' names were written in it.

"What is _this_?" I asked again, looking at Tank.

"This book contains contact information for all the people associated with Rangeman," Tank said."Their Rangeman cell phones, private cells, landlines, fax numbers, and addresses. Everything you need in order to get in touch with us if you find yourself in a dangerous situation and can't reach Ranger."

The laughing, talking, and drinking had all stopped when Tank handed me the box. Every set of Rangeman eyes were on me. They didn't have to tell me how significant this is. Ranger's men were almost as private as Ranger is himself. The only facts I know about them is what they have shared with me after we started to get to know each other. To have been given a key to their privacy was no small gesture. And I didn't take it as one. A single tear splashed onto the leather cover of the book.

Ranger put his arm around me, lending his support once again.

"If for _any_ reason Ranger isn't able to get to you if you have a problem, I want you to call me, or one of the men in that book," Tank continued.

"We can't imagine Ranger not being where you need him," Lester said,"but we want to know that you'll call us if you find yourself looking for backup."

I wiped my eyes and smiled at them."You don't know how much this means to me, guys," I told them.

"Just make sure you memorize what's inside or keep it somewhere no one will find it," Tank told me."This is not information we want to get out."

"Don't worry, I'll protect it with my life," I promised them. And I wasn't really exaggerating, either.

"Babe, that's the opposite of what it was given to you for," Ranger said.

"I was only saying that I can't put into words just how much I appreciate this."

"This is our way of showing you that none of us consider watching out for you part of the job, Steph," Hal said, with a round of agrees from everyone else.

"We don't want anything happening to you," Vince added.

"And what good is all this training we have if we can't use it to keep a person we all care about safe?" Ram said.

"Yeah, I was even going to give you my mama's number, since she always manages to find me," Woody said,"but Tank told me that was overkill."

Ranger and Lester must have realized that I had reached my emotional limit, because Ranger pocketed the book for me, and Lester broke the suddenly intense atmosphere.

"I knew that book was going to take the attention off of my gift," Lester told me."That's why I insisted I go first. That way you could fully appreciate all the thought, and work, that went into creating it."

I could always count on Lester to shift the focus away from me. I have a feeling that his office clown act is just that, an _act_. One that he's perfected, and has made into a very useful tool.

"I'm sure it was a lot of _work_ for you," I told him."What did you have to do? Flirt for five minutes on the phone, or did you bat your eyelashes at the unsuspecting woman in the flesh?"

All the guys laughed. Even Lester.

"If I had showed up in the flesh," he said,"my eyelashes wouldn't be what she was looking at."

Lester is a good example of what made Ranger unique. He was even better looking than Lester - though no matter how many times I've told Lester that, he still doesn't believe me - but Ranger didn't flaunt it, brag, or expect something because of it. Well, he didn't with anyone else. I'm a special case. Ranger had no problem using whatever he could to get closer to me.

"And if you called her," I said,"she could have just hung up on you and saved herself some time."

"You wound me, Steph. We both know that if Ranger hadn't found you first, you would have been putty in my hands."

I turned to Ranger."This is new," I said to him.

"That Santos is seconds away from a beatdown, Babe? Nothing new about that."

"No. That beer suddenly causes delusions in people. Bobby, take it away from him."

"Deny it all you want, Steph," Lester said,"but we both know the truth."

"And the truth is that you've gone from delusional to insane now?"

"Nope. It's that you can't have me, so you lowered your standards and agreed to marry Ranger."

I made the mistake of reaching for my own beer and taking a sip while Lester was speaking. The beer went halfway down my throat and up my nose at the same time. _Ranger_ a lowered standard? Not freakin' likely.

"It looks like you've been feeling neglected, Santos," Ranger said to him."Why don't we spent some _quality_ time together in the gym tomorrow morning."

"Oh shit. Here," he said to Bobby, pushing his beer towards him,"maybe you should take this away from me before I get myself strapped to a plane headed to a country I can't pronounce. I'm already on my second strike."

"_I_ was smart enough to stop at one comment," Bobby said,"but you still can't figure out when to stop saying shit, can you?"

Ranger had been right. My nieces were easier to babysit. I put my gift boxes by my feet, scooted my chair a little closer to Ranger, and started in on the pizza that had just been put in front of us.

I wasn't really shocked to see Joyce Barnhardt stroll into Pino's not long after. Ranger has the Bat Signal, and Joyce gets a Whore's Heads Up. It's uncanny how Joyce always seems to materialize when I'm having an especially good day and then does her best to sabotage it. What did surprise me is what I saw when I looked around at the guys to see their reaction to her. The only thing visible on their faces was disgust, and outright hatred from the men I had told about the part she played in ending my marriage. As much as I hated Joyce, I couldn't help but admit that all the botox, silicone, and hairspray did add up to an attractive package, if you like the blow up doll look, but my guys weren't turning into a mess of hormones at the sight of her obviously well-used cleavage display.

I leaned close to Ranger."You need to give them all raises," I whispered to him.

I knew I didn't have to fill Ranger in on my thought process, because he usually knew what my brain was thinking before I did.

"Give them some credit, Babe. Not all men are interested in women like Joyce."

I guess that was true, because Ranger has always been interested in_ me, _and the only thing I've injected into my body is junk food.

"He's right, Steph," Lester said."Not all of us go for Porn Chic."

My eyebrows went up."_You_ not interested in Porn Chic? I thought that was your major in college."

"Okay, so I would be _normally_," he said,"but after what she's done to you, no trick, costume, or inflatable boob would get me to do her."

"Yeah, Steph," Vince said."Her sleeping with your husband at the time wasn't cool."

Growing up, if I hadn't been comparing myself to Valerie, I was going head to head with Joyce, and always coming up short. But the tide had turned, and now she's the one lacking. Her latest walking wallet had dumped her, and she hasn't been able to find his replacement yet. Which is what brought her out while the sun is still up. The guys didn't make the amount of money she would need to keep her doctor visits up to date, but they all were nice to look at, and she probably figured she'd have something fun to play with until she found her next victim.

"I'm glad to hear that," I told them."I was just about to warn all of you that if you look too long in her direction, your balls will fall off."

"We wouldn't do that to you, Steph," Bobby said,"even if the round of antibiotics was taken out of the equation. But I'm pretty sure balls can't fall off that easily. Though I wouldn't want to chance it."

"It's true," I said to them."Everyone knows that when Joyce gets her hooks into a man, his balls are the first thing to go."

Ranger smiled, and Tank, Lester, and Bobby shook their heads at me. Hal must have taken me seriously, because he was keeping his eyes on the dining area furthest from where Joyce was desperately trying to show off her wares.

After another five minutes of not causing the guys to stampede, Joyce decided she'd had enough and followed her breasts to our table. I recognized the look on her face, and I knew that she was out for blood for being ignored. I was actually looking forward to it. I didn't want her skanky mitts, or anything else, coming anywhere near my Rangeman guys.

"Well if it isn't little 'ol Stephanie Plum," Joyce said, stepping closer to Lester and Bobby."Looks like you were finally able to convince someone to take you out for a change."

"Even the most health conscious person has to risk getting rabies and come back to the Burg once in awhile, Joyce," I said to her."I thought we'd be safe for another couple of hours, though. Did one of your_ 'friends' _chew through your restraints and escape again?"

"Aren't you a little _old_ to still be jealous of me?" She asked."Not that you don't have plenty of reasons to be."

"Why on earth would I be jealous of you?" I asked her, smiling."I'm happy. I have a great life full of people who are glad that I exist, and half of me isn't stuffed with something constructed inside a back alley lab somewhere. I know I don't have my own STD named after me, but we can't all be _you_."

"No, you can't," she said, smiling at Ranger."She's kidding about the STD, I'm clean. Though I can be_ very dirty_ if the right man came along."

The thought of Joyce going after one of my guys was bad, but her flirting with my fiance in front of me was just asking for it.

"You've got your eye on the wrong man then," Ranger said, moving his hand back to my leg."When you already have the best, you don't need, want, or desire, anything else. _Dirty_ or otherwise."

I leaned over and kissed his cheek. Ranger wasn't just saying that for Joyce's benefit.

"What kind of person sleeps with another woman's husband anyway?" Lester asked her."Isn't there some type of chick code that you're not supposed to break? I could maybe understand it if Dickhole looked like me, but that Orr guy seems like he's two years away from retiring and moving to Boca Raton."

I didn't think Dickie was unattractive exactly, but compared to Ranger and these men, Dickie ranked way below average on every scale. The only thing I will ever like about Joyce is that she made me see that I needed out of that marriage.

"Hey, I did Stephanie a favor," she said.

"And yet I still haven't gotten around to sending you a _thanks for sleeping with my husband _card," I told her."Why do you think that is?"

"I suppose if trying to appear sexy isn't going to do it, you have to fall back on sarcasm to try to get some attention."

"And here I was thinking that you were too dumb to pick up on sarcasm," I said.

"What the hell do all of these men see in you?" She asked me."Morelli was treating you like a stupid little porcelain doll, you got Ranger feeling sorry enough about breaking up your relationship with Joe to offer to marry you, and these muscle-heads are always rushing to your side every time you stub a toe. Looks like helpless and pathetic are finally working in your favor."

"Say whatever you want, Joyce," I told her,"I don't care. You don't know anything about me or my life. And just knowing that you're stuck having to live with yourself, since no one else wants to, is revenge enough for me. But keep in mind that if you mess with Ranger, or one of these guys, I will fuck you up."

"You tell her, Steph," Tank said.

"_That's_ all you got? And I was just starting to have fun," Joyce said,"but you could never hold your own against me. I do believe that's exactly what Dickie said, too."

My blood pressure went into kill zone, but I wasn't letting her see that she hit a nerve. And why should it? I think Joyce is a moral-less tramp, and Dickie a pompous douchebag. Their opinion shouldn't matter to me either way, but damn it if I didn't hate the fact that Dickie screwed my arch enemy. Out of all the women he cheated on me with, he couldn't have kept his dick away from Joyce? I hated that she used the fact that she boinked my husband as her go-to taunt every time she felt like she was losing ground in one of our constant insult battles.

I could tell that Ranger was about to say something, and the guys closest to me and Joyce had snapped to attention, but I didn't want this to turn uglier than it already had. I had to put a stop to it before they got involved.

"I know it's hard for you to accept that not every man is going to offer himself up for you to abuse, with a please and thank you, but no one here likes or respects you, Joyce," I told her,"so you might as well cut your losses and go on home and give your left leg a chance to get reacquainted with your right one. God knows they haven't been together since you hit puberty."

"Oohh, good one, Steph," Lester said, clapping me on the shoulder.

"You're one to talk," Joyce said to me."Giving these guys something besides pizza these days?"

Ranger went still, and the guys in question went from unfriendly to flat out scary.

Ranger made a move towards her, but Tank stopped him.

"I got this," Tank said."I know what to do with garbage like her."

He stood, lifted Joyce by her upper arms, and dumped her outside Pino's front door. Tank came back in and sat down like nothing had happened.

"You're going to need one of those steel wool dish scrubbers to get the residual skeeze off your hands," I told him.

"I have alcohol wipes in the first aid kit in the truck," Tank told me."I'll be fine."

After Joyce's quick departure, the guys decided to spend the rest of the evening reliving what they considered my highlights since meeting them. Hal went immediately to my stun-gun escape, followed by the monkey-filled car Ranger made him drive to the Pine Barrens.

"Remember the time Tank got shot outside your apartment?" Lester said.

I saw Zip flinch from where I was sitting and I glared at Lester. Zip was the reason Ranger got involved in the Dickie/Petiak case. And that was also around the time Zip found out his brother Ziggy had been murdered because of it. Not a topic for casual dinner conversation.

Bobby changed the subject quickly."How about when Brett got beaver-bombed when he spent the day with Steph?"

Brett turned red and Hal turned white. Hal didn't like blood. And it turns out he didn't like blown up beaver bits even more. And I didn't help that when I turned Brett over to him to get cleaned up.

Woody punched Hal in the arm."Who knew Hal was so sensitive? He was throwing up for a good ten minutes after that."

"Eww. Guys ..." I told them.

"Sorry, Steph," they said in unison.

"I remember going with Caesar to my first security consult," I said to the group.

"And you did good," Caesar said."I was impressed."

"Nothing bad happened, and I also didn't get dirty."

"Didn't you blow up a building not long after?" Tank asked.

"Shut up, Tank," I told him.

"I remember delivering a replacement vehicle to Ranger," Woody said,"and saw you standing with him. You had lettuce in your hair and you smelled like pickles."

"Oh, yeah," I said."When that moron carjacked Ranger's Porsche."

"He took you, too," Tank said."I had a good time with that guy."

I rolled my eyes at him.

"How about when you and Ranger fell down a flight of stairs at Rangeman?" Ram said to us.

"I didn't fall," Ranger said."I was tackled."

"It was an accident," I said to everyone."And no one was supposed to know about that."

"Ram's ass didn't make it fully into the control room before we heard all about where you landed," Junior said to me."Or _who_ you landed _on_."

"I take it back," I said to Ranger,"they should all be fired instead of getting raises."

"Hey, Binkie," Cal said."What about the time you and Steph got lost in the cemetery?"

"It was_ dark_," Binkie said to us."And it was freakin' spooky. I bet you guys would have gotten lost, too."

"Is that when Lula fell into that open grave?" Zero asked.

"Yes. And do you guys talk about anything else besides me?" I asked them."You're worse than my family. With all the missions you've been on, FTAs you've chased, and Rangeman clients you've had to deal with, I'd think you'd have better things to discuss."

"They don't mean it in disrespect, Babe," Ranger said to me."These men don't see you as incapable of doing your job. This is about initiating you into the group. You'll no doubt be hearing all about the stupid things these idiots have done themselves over the years."

"To us, this type of shit is what gets us through the day," Tank said."In the service, it's even considered a way of bonding with the people who are likely going to have to save your ass every other day. But even _you_ have to admit, that shooting the shit out a security remote is funny as hell."

"Hector thought so," I said, smiling at Hector."He learned a lot of new words that day."

"_Bang_," Hector said, with a straight face.

"Very funny. You know more english than I do. And what about you?" I asked Ranger."You have a lot more times to choose from than these guys."

"I have to go back to the day Connie called me to meet you," he told me."You were complaining about your car being a piece of shit, and that your shoes hurt your feet, getting more and more pissed off the longer you talked to me. Loudly telling me that you were going to catch Morelli whether I helped you or not."

"_Damn_, Steph," Lester said."You took on the boss right after meeting him? That took balls."

"I was afraid to sayanythingaround him for a good six months," Bobby said.

"No wonder you got under his skin," Tank added."Everyone is usually scared to death of him. And for good reason."

"I was in a bad mood that day," I said to them."And he wasn't being at all helpful."

"I was testing you to see how serious you were about going after Morelli," Ranger explained."Skip chasing isn't a job for someone who doesn't see the danger in it."

"I did bring Joe in. And I did it in the most unpleasant way possible."

"And that's the potential bounty hunter I saw, and why I agreed to help you after that." He smiled at me, and I braced myself."The first time I broke into your apartment is also extremely noteworthy."

I glared at him for bringing up the time Morelli had handcuffed me to the shower curtain rod. That was the only time in the past that I hadn't been self-conscious about being butt-naked in front of someone. I was so miserable waiting for Ranger to show up and uncuff me that I didn't care that he got an unadulterated view of _everything_ when he was still mostly a stranger to me.

"What made you break into her apartment?" Lester asked.

"Yeah. Speak up," Ramon said."This sounds like a good story."

"No." Ranger said, in a way that immediately ended the questions.

"Well ... there was the time Ranger sent me to unlock an apartment for Stephanie," Slick said,"and a guy was found dead inside of it. Bullet to the head if I remember correctly."

"At least I wasn't the shooter. Seriously? You guys can't focus on any of the good things?" I asked."Like me finding out who was stealing Rangeman codes, or when I helped keep Ranger safe from Brenda."

"Thank you for that, Babe," Ranger said."I'd rather spend three weeks in the desert with no food, than do a job like that again."

"Rest assured, if anyone tries to grope you now that we're together, she'll be pulling back bloody nubs."

"See, that's exactly why we like you, Steph," Bones said."You're a fighter."

"You're also one hell of a _lover_, Babe," Ranger said, his lips brushing my ear, making me turn the same shade of red as Brett did earlier.

I looked away from his hundred-watt smile before I smacked him, or straddled him. The guys would like either option a little too much, so I kept my eyes on the front door while I counted to ten to cool myself off.

Unfortunately, that made it extremely difficult to avoid acknowledging Carl Costanza who was walking in. Damn. First Joyce and now Carl. Maybe I should have picked Shorty's. I did say that I wanted to combine my two lives, I was just hoping they wouldn't have been forced into a head-on collision like they have tonight.

And of course Carl being Carl couldn't resist stopping by our table before he picked up his dinner.

"I'd ask if Pino's is under attack, but if it was I'm assuming that you all wouldn't be sitting around eating pizza. What's going on?"

"We're celebrating," I told him.

"Celebrating what?"

I rolled my eyes. And this is one of Trenton's finest? No wonder he's never shown interest in becoming a detective.

"Our engagement."

"Why would anyone want to celebrate that?"

He isn't the one lucky enough to be marrying Ranger, so I understood why he said that.

"Trouble in paradise?" I asked Carl."I thought you and Marion were doing good."

He snorted."So did I. But once I let it slip that I thought our relationship was getting serious, she told me that she didn't want to be tied down right now and dumped me."

"Have you talked to Big Dog about this?"

"No. He's been seeing someone, and he seems happy with her so I didn't want to crap all over it."

Someone was going to do the crapping, but it wouldn't be me tonight. Tomorrow was a possibility, though.

"It might not seem like it, but I do care about what happens to you, Steph," Carl said."And if Manoso's who you want to put up with, then I'm behind you one hundred percent."

"Let me guess, you're being nice to me because you're afraid to get your ass handed to you if you aren't?"

"Yep, that's the reason, Steph." He turned to Ranger and held out his hand."Congrats, man. I hope you know what you're getting yourself into with this one."

Then the strangest thing happened, my elbow connected with Carl's ribcage. Hard. I wasn't going to break his heart by spilling the beans about Big Dog and Marion, but I didn't mind damaging any of his other parts in my vicinity.

Lucky for him, someone at the counter called out that his order was up.

"I'm outta here," he said to me."See you at the next car fire or shootout."

"Bite me, Carl."

"Just tell me where and when," Carl said.

"Your turn," I told Ranger.

With his eyes not leaving Carl, Ranger started to stand.

All the color drained from Carl's face, and he took a stumbling step backwards. Ranger is the only man in Trenton, probably the only man in the country, who could beat the tar out of a cop, in a cop hangout, and not end up behind bars. And Carl knew it.

"Sorry, Steph," he said, quickly."It won't happen again."

He paid for his dinner and snatched up the bag all in one move before hightailing it out of the building.

"Wow," I told Ranger,"that's impressive."

"It's all in the attitude, Babe," he told me.

He did have the attitude, but the fifty pounds of extra muscle, guns conveniently placed on his person, and ties to every powerful figure along the eastern seaboard, didn't hurt any.

But none of those things helped when Grandma Mazur came bustling into Pino's. It was close to nine and she should have been all tucked in at my parents' house, not sneaking around the Burg. And I was betting that my mother had no idea that Grandma had gone missing.

Ranger followed my eyes."She snuck out again, didn't she?" He asked.

"Yup."

"Stephanie!" She said, coming over to us."You're having a party here in the Burg and you didn't invite me?"

Bobby got up and gave Grandma his seat.

"What a nice young man you are," Grandma said to him, while he got another chair and joined Hal's table."Handsome as the dickens, too."

"Cool. Edna's here," Lester said."You guys are gonna love her. She attracts more trouble than Stephanie."

"No," I said, calmly."I _attract_ trouble. Grandma _causes_ it."

"Someone has to," she said.

That wasn't a discussion I wanted to get into with Grandma Mazur, so I let the comment go.

"It's not really a party," I told her."We just decided to all go out for pizza."

"I like pizza, except I can't eat any this late or I'll get a case of heartburn so bad the devil himself would start cussing. But I could have come anyway. It would have beat the heck out of watching television with Frank."

"Does Mom know you're here?"

"Nope. But she knows_ you _are," Grandma said."That's how I was able to get out. She was on the phone. Mabel Markowitz saw me and offered to give me a lift here." Grandma turned to Ranger."We missed you at the house. I was glad to hear about you two getting hitched, but it would've been better had you been there with Stephanie."

"That was my fault, Grandma," I said to her."Ranger wanted to come, but I thought Mom would take the news better from me."

"Who cares what she takes?" Grandma said."That was _your_ announcement to make. You should have told her to stuff it if she didn't like it or, better yet, have Ranger tell her."

She was right. I didn't want my mother to offend Ranger in any way, or embarrass me, so I inadvertently let her control what I did. Shit. I was going to have to deal with her soon. Having my mother in my head wasn't going to help me improve my life. I know she's just biding her time until she starts in on the wedding preparations and I wasn't going to let her have a say in them. Only Ranger and I knew what we wanted for that day. Well, I didn't know _yet_, but I will eventually. And I knew without a doubt that it wasn't going to be what my mother would choose.

I sighed and Ranger looked over at me.

"What's wrong, Steph?"

"Another problem for another day. Not something I want to think about tonight," I told him, turning towards Grandma."Ranger and I will be over soon. Right?"

"Yes, Babe."

"What's a seven letter word for an engaged man that starts with a W?" Lester asked.

"I'm not whipped, Santos," Ranger said,"but you will be thoroughly tomorrow."

"Guess it wasn't the beer's fault after all," I said.

The next hour or so passed quickly. Pino had come over to ask how everything was, but he didn't attempt to kick us out so we ended up staying long after the food and beer were gone. And Grandma used the time to fill the guys in on the first thirty years of my life. I kept waiting for the Ranger stories to start, but aside from the ones that involved me, they weren't told.

Maybe I should've come alone, I thought to myself. I might have learned something new about Ranger, because the men sure weren't talking with him sitting here. I wonder if Ranger could show me how to train my family to do the same so they'd stop telling everyone my business. Grandma wasn't too bad, though. Most of her stories turned out to be ones I liked. Topping it was my jump off the garage roof when I was a kid, and how I dragged Dickie's ass over the coals during our divorce. I was too pissed at the time to take any shit from him, or his stupid lawyer.

I would have liked to have spent more time with Grandma and the guys, but I knew some of them still had a long night ahead of them.

"It's getting late, Grandma," I said, standing up."Ranger and I will give you a ride home. Hopefully Mom hasn't called the police yet."

"Can't one of these fine, upstanding young men do it?" She asked me."It's late. I might need a bodyguard to get home safely."

"Nice try, but you can't find a better bodyguard than Ranger," I told her."No offense, guys."

"None taken," Bobby said."Who do you think trained us?"

"But Ranger's off the market," Grandma said."I may still have a shot with one of them."

You had to love Grandma. Optimistic until the very end.

"It's okay, Steph," Lester said."We're leaving in a couple of minutes, and we'll see that she gets home okay."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's fine."

"All right, but don't let her talk you into stopping anywhere on the way home. I hate the thought of my grandmother behind bars more than me."

Grandma winked at Bobby."She's always been a worrier. Gets it from her mother. Probably the only thing she got from her."

"And now I'm ready to leave," I told Ranger, hiking my bag onto my shoulder and picking up my presents.

Although it was true, I didn't like to cop to anything I might have inherited from my mother except for her metabolism. And boy was I ever thankful for that after all the food I've put away tonight.

"Thanks everyone," I said to the tables of men."I had a great time. We have to do this again soon, but maybe we should try Shorty's or Marsilio's."

I got a combination of you-got-its, a few nods, and a couple smiles, so I guess dinner number two is a go.

Ranger slid his arm around my waist as we walked back to his Turbo, bypassing the register since Bobby, Lester, and Tank told us three separate times that we weren't allowed to pay for anything tonight.

Ranger beeped the car unlocked, and I buckled myself into the passenger's seat. Ranger got behind the wheel and plugged the key into the ignition.

"You know, I really think this is going to work between us," I told him."Tonight showed just how well."

"Babe, I've known that we were going to work starting the night I drove you home and checked your apartment for bad guys."

And strangely enough ... so had I.


	10. Chapter 10

**I think I may have to send Lester on vacation or something just to keep him out of trouble. I already changed one part in this chapter just so Lester would get a break, and he ended up right back in it anyway so I stopped trying to fight it. All characters belong to Janet. The mistakes are mine.**

**Chapter 10**

_WHOOSH_. The air in my lungs quickly rushed out as I hit the mat. Face first. Again. I took a moment to take stock of my body, and when I couldn't feel anything more painful than what I'd already been experiencing, I pushed myself to my feet and faced Bobby again.

"Okay," I said."Let's try that again."

The guys were nice enough to work with me when Ranger had to leave the building this morning instead of beginning my training program like we had planned, the least I could do is practice until I got it right.

Bobby moved in my direction, arms ready to come at me in another mock attack.

"Take another step, Brown," Ranger said, from the door of the gym,"and you'll be the one face first in the mat."

Aside from pausing for a fraction of a second, Bobby didn't react to the threat.

"I was just showing Steph the basics on how she could get away from someone," he told Ranger.

"You were supposed to teach her how to protect herself against a skip," Ranger said, taking Ram into his glare as well,"not injure her more than the guy she'd be chasing would."

"I'm okay," I told Ranger.

I've seen the men bruised, limping, and looking more than a little dazed after they've done something to piss Ranger off. I didn't want Bobby and Ram to get hurt when they were only trying to help me.

Ranger's eyes turned to me and softened."Babe, you have a bruise starting to form on your cheek."

"Yeah," I said, smiling,"but Bobby was walking funny after I got it."

Although I could see that Ranger was still angry, there was also a slight trace of amusement in his eyes.

"You should have waited for me," Ranger said."I would have been much gentler on you."

"Tank needed you," I told him."And as much as I like having you at my disposal, you do have other responsibilities."

"But none as important," he said to me, kissing my bruise."And I'm with you now. _Brown_, get your ass over here. You're going to help me show Stephanie how to do this correctly."

"Shit," Bobby said.

"Can't you just watch us and tell me what to do?" I asked.

"No."

Alrighty then.

"We'll start with the holds that you'd most likely find yourself in," Ranger said, slipping easily into a sexy instructor role.

Ranger had changed into his gym clothes before coming down here, and the shirt he was wearing with the ripped-off sleeves and well-worn sweats that fit snugly against some of my favorite parts of his body, had me paying less attention to what Ranger was saying, and more on what he was doing. Which I suppose is good, because as long as I could remember the placement of Ranger's strong hands, I might be able to complete the move without Ranger realizing I'd been mostly ogling him instead. He would enjoy the fact that I found him that distracting, but I didn't want him to think I wasn't taking this seriously.

"Babe."

Damn. I was busted.

"Yeah?" I asked.

It seemed like they hadn't moved much. Bobby was still looking nervous, and Ranger's eyes were focused on me, so I couldn't have missed anything crucial.

"Are you watching what I'm doing?" Ranger asked.

I answered honestly."Yes. I was definitely watching you."

The corners of his lips twitched."That's what I thought, but were you listening at all when I explained what you would be doing here?"

Shit. Ranger_ had _been talking.

"Would you believe me if I said yes?" I asked him.

"No. That's why I didn't do anything yet. I could see your interest shift."

"So could I," Bobby said to him."We were accomplishing more before you came in. Once you show up, you're all she can think about. Maybe we should just teach Steph to throw a punch with her left hand. I bet that rock on her finger would knock a guy out."

"No," I said to them."I'm going to do this. I got a little sidetracked. That's all. There was too much beer last night, and too many muscles on Ranger's arms this morning."

"_I_ have muscles," Bobby said."And so does Ram. You were fine with us."

"Yeah, but yours aren't _Ranger's_ muscles. And I refuse to rely on my jewelry, or your combined muscles, to keep myself alive if it comes to that so tell me what I need to do again. I'm with you this time."

"Okay, Babe. Bobby, grab me from behind," Ranger told him.

Bobby got Ranger in what looked like a backwards bear hug with Bobby's arms crossed over Ranger's chest. I was familiar with this one, not because I'm irresistible, but this is a common position I find myself in when someone bigger than me gets pissed off while I'm trying to get the hell away from them.

"There are two ways to get out of this," Ranger said to me."If your arms are being held down, you step to your left while shifting your weight to your knees and lift your elbows out and up."

"All of that at the same time?" I asked.

"Yes," he said. And he showed me what he had described so far."If you did it right, your assailant will be leaning forward and slightly off balance, and his hold will have loosened."

"Got it," I said.

"Then you turn to your right, and either go for an elbow to his ribs with your right arm or hit him in the face with your left hand."

Ranger demonstrated that, too. I was afraid that Bobby was about to get a bruise to match mine, but Ranger held back.

"If your arms are held too low to accomplish a rib or face shot, aim for his kneecap or instep with your foot to get your arms free."

"That I know I can do," I told him.

"Now I want to see you try it," Ranger said to me.

"Who's going to be my guinea pig?" I asked him."You or Bobby?"

"I'm all yours, Babe. Attack away."

Hmm, that was very close to what he'd said in my dream last night.

"You're doing that staring thing again, Steph," Bobby said."If you want to learn anything useful today, maybe _I_ should assist you."

"I'm fine. I promise not to jump Ranger in front of you," I told him.

"Can he say the same about you?"

I looked at Ranger."Can you?"

"We'll see," he said, helpfully.

I gave my eyes a workout as well and rolled them at the two of them.

"Okay, I'm ready," I told Ranger.

Ranger came behind me, and between him and Bobby, I managed to stay on my feet and off my ass or face. We practiced it a couple more times before Ranger moved on.

"If someone gets you from behind like we just showed you," Ranger said to me,"and his arms are under yours, there's a different way of getting out of it."

"Crap," I said."This more complicated than I thought it would be. I just assumed that you were going to make me run on the treadmill and then tell me where to punch someone."

"We'll get to that," Ranger told me."But I wanted you to learn these escape techniques first. Now, if you have use of your arms, I want you to use your right foot and take a step sideways towards your right side, then shift your weight ..."

"Like I did with the other one?" I asked."To get the person unbalanced?"

"Yes. Very good, Babe. But this time, you'll bend over and grab his right ankle with both hands, and pull it up while using your butt to keep the top of his thigh from moving."

"And what will this do, aside from cause pain?"

"It should make your opponent fall backwards," Ranger told me,"and give you an opportunity to do some damage if he moves."

"But keep in mind, Steph," Bobby added,"if he keeps his grip on you when you attempt to lean forward, use your hips to hit his stomach so he relaxes his hold, leaving you able to go for his ankle."

"I suppose you want me to do this one, too."

"Got it in one, Babe."

"Let's go," I told Ranger,"but I apologize in advance for hurting you."

"I'll take my chances," Ranger said.

"Ranger has trained some of the scariest men I've had the misfortune of meeting," Bobby told me."I'm almost positive that _you_ won't kill him."

"Aren't you funny this morning?" I said to Bobby.

"I had a good night."

"I think we all did," I told him.

"We need to do that again soon," Ram said, coming back to the mats after the workout he was able to get in when Ranger took over his training duties.

"We will," I said to Ram."I never turn down a chance to have other people cook for me."

"_Now_ I understand why you were attracted to Ranger," Bobby said.

"Didn't we just go over this?" I asked."Remember, muscley arms and tight-fitting sweat pants?"

"Babe."

"Crap. I didn't say anything about your sweats out loud, did I?"

The one time I keep my mouth shut and I still end up embarrassing myself. Though, I didn't really feel all that embarrassed about lusting after the guy I was about to marry.

"No you didn't, Steph, but I'm glad you like them. I'll give you a chance to check out my pants later."

"Tank is right, you two are disgusting to be around," Bobby said.

"I think they're cute," Ram said.

"I don't like_ cute_," I said, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Adorable?" Ram asked, trying not to smile.

I turned towards Ranger."Would you mind if I used Ram for this one?"

Ranger grinned at me."Go for it, Babe," he said.

"Uhh ... Steph," Ram said, sounding unsure.

"Don't worry, Ram," I said, giving him my sweetest smile,"when we're finished practicing, I'll not only have another defense move under my belt, you'll no longer see me as _cute_ or_ adorable_."

"That's my girl," Ranger said.

I kissed Ranger on the mouth and then went to take down Ram.

The four of us spent another hour in the gym together. Ranger gave me instructions on how to get loose if my wrist, or wrists, were being held. And how to get myself out of a choke hold. I had a little experience with that one after going after a guy named Macary who had a few anger issues and didn't want to come with me willingly. I got out of that one mostly on my own, but Ranger gave me some new options to try.

I felt dumber and dumber as I learned more ways to save myself, not because I couldn't do what Ranger was showing me, or was afraid I wouldn't remember the steps, but it was now dawning on me how idiotic I've been in turning down Ranger's numerous offers to get me into better shape. Not only was I beyond stupid, this morning's gym time had brought home just how lucky I've been over the years. And right now I'm as shocked as everyone else that I hadn't been killed a long time ago.

"I want you to also work in some strength training in between cardio this week," Ranger told me, when I stopped to get a bottle of water.

I was glad that I wasn't the only one covered in sweat. Ranger's darker skin took on a sexy sheen, and Bobby and Ram's shirts were soaked. I may have been the intended target, but they had also gotten a pretty good workout, too.

"As much as I like the way your body looks," I told Ranger,"I don't think I can pull off a Rambo-like physique."

"Your body is beautiful the way it is, Steph. I didn't say anything about turning it into a carbon copy of mine."

"Good," I said to him."Because I see how much work you put into yours, and while I may want to improve on what I have, I'm not ready to spend that much time in here."

"You'd be using lighter weights for a shorter amount of time," Ranger told me."You'll have more muscle tone, and be stronger, but you won't bulk up the way we do."

"Will I finally be able to do a push-up?" I asked."Not one of the girly ones where you're kneeling on the floor, but the ones like you guys do by the hundreds?"

"We can get you doing one-handed push-ups if you give us a month," Bobby said.

"I plan on giving you a lot more than a month," I told him."I'm in this for the long haul."

"Good for you, Steph," Ram said."It'll be fun having you in the gym everyday."

"_Every_ day?" I asked Ranger.

"Yes. I can't say that you'll enjoy every minute of it, but I guarantee that you'll learn a lot. And if you build your muscles up, they'll continue to burn calories even when you're not using them."

"Why didn't you tell me that in the beginning? I might have agreed to this a whole lot sooner."

"It was a mistake on my part, Babe," he told me, his eyes crinkling at the corners. When Ranger turned to Bobby and Ram, the crinkling eyes disappeared and were immediately replaced with an icy stare."If she ends up with anymore bruises, I'll make sure you have _ten_ for every_ one _she has on her body. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Sir," Bobby and Ram said together.

_Army_ Ranger was in the building.

"Hey!" Lester called, as he walked into the gym,"you're not wearing our shirt."

"I didn't want to get it all sweaty," I told him, when he joined us."I'll put it on after I've had a chance to take a shower."

"Let me know if you need any help with that," Lester said, giving me a wink.

"There's one more thing I should show you before we leave," Ranger said to me.

Uh-oh.

"Santos. On the mat._ Now_," Ranger barked.

Good thing I already sweated out all my fluids or I would have lost them at the sound of Ranger's voice. This wasn't the Army Ranger from a few moments ago, this was _Street_ Ranger, the one everyone on Stark was terrified of. And I noticed that Lester was no longer smiling.

It took a total of three seconds for Lester to be flat on his back with Ranger's foot on his throat.

"Bossman went easy on him," Bobby said, as Ranger let Lester up.

"Huh? He twisted Lester's arm, kicked his legs out from underneath him, and stepped on his neck. That was going easy on him?"

"Is Santos' neck broken?" Bobby asked.

"No."

"And I repeat, Ranger went easy on him. Trust me."

I wasn't asking anymore questions. I know Ranger's lethal, I didn't need any details to prove it.

Ranger dragged Lester over to me.

"Santos has something to say to you," Ranger told me, nudging Lester with an elbow to the ribs."Don't you?"

"Sorry I've been such a prick," Lester said to me.

Ranger cuffed him on the back of his head."Be respectful," Ranger said.

"I was. I called _myself_ a prick, not _her_."

"Do you want to go another round?" Ranger asked.

"Hell, no. I think you fucked up my shoulder."

"I was nicer than you deserved," Ranger said."If you would shut up and listen once in awhile, you'd get your ass beaten less. I told you to watch what you say to Stephanie, and I gave you plenty of warnings before I did something about it, so quit whining. Next time I won't be as pleasant."

"You know he's just goofing around, Ranger," I told him."Even if he wasn't, nothing would come of it. I see him as an obnoxious big brother, nothing more."

"_Oooh_, a _brother_ comparison is worse than the humiliation that comes from getting subdued in seconds," Ram said, slapping Lester on his 'injured' shoulder.

"You're asking for it, Ram," Lester told him.

"Can't say I'm scared after watching you drop when Ranger barely even touched you."

"Like I stood a chance?" Lester asked."On top of being freakishly strong, he knows every pressure point."

"Tell me about it," I said under my breath, earning me a grin from Ranger."Are we done here? I'm one step closer to being able to do the same thing to Lester as you did, Lester's sorry for acting like a hormonal dick, and I haven't thrown up yet. I'm ready to call an end to the day's training. I really want a shower before I end up chained to my desk."

"Sure, Babe. I'll give you a rundown later of what I'd like you to do tomorrow."

"_See_, I _can _keep my mouth shut," Lester said."You mentioned being chained and I didn't say anything about it even though I could have. That was a perfect set up."

He didn't know just _how_ perfect. Luckily Lester had never found out about the time I'd been chained, naked, to my shower curtain rod. But just to teach him a lesson, I walked over to Lester and grabbed the ring and pinky fingers on his right hand with my left one while clutching his index and middle finger in my right hand. I pulled down on his fingers in my left hand while pushing up the ones caught in my right hand.

"_Ouch_! _Let go_."

"No," I told him, adding a little more pressure.

"I'm sorry," Lester said, dropping to one knee.

"That's better," I said, releasing him.

"I think I'm in love," Bobby said to me.

"It's always fun to see Lester begging for mercy," Ram told me."You just made my day, Steph."

"Mine, too. Babe. I knew you'd be a quick study once you decided to give this a shot, but we don't usually rely on finger bending around here."

I offered Lester a hand up, and gave him a one-armed squeeze around his waist to show that there were no hard feelings, at least on my end.

"That one I learned from Connie," I told Ranger."She's used it on Vinnie a few times when she felt brave enough to risk touching him."

"Connie's got a bigger pair than I have," Lester said.

"That's not that big of a compliment," Bobby said to him,"since you just got_ your _balls busted by two different people, one right after the other."

"And you're going to lose yours if you don't shut your piehole," Lester said.

"The last time I heard this much bickering, I was having dinner with my nieces and Albert at my sister's house. I don't want to relive it so I'm heading up to seven. You can stop by my cubby later on and let me know if anyone ended up up nutless."

"I'm right behind you, Babe."

"That_ is _usually where I find you," I said to him.

"You seemed to enjoy me being behind you last night," Ranger said, against my ear.

"All for your benefit," I told Ranger.

We bypassed the elevator for the stairs. Yes, the stairs. I didn't use the treadmill, so the stairs were going to be my cardio for the day.

"You 'benefited' more than a few times yourself last night," Ranger said, softly.

He reached past me to open the door for the stairwell, and I chose not to admit or deny anything - it's usually safer that way - and I could feel Ranger's eyes boring into me as I jogged up the stairs ahead of him.

I was out of breath again by the time we reached Ranger's apartment. I had a long, long way to go, but I now felt confident that I'd be able to pull my own weight around here eventually or, at the very least, be able to _lift_ most of it.

"You really impressed me today," Ranger said, after the door was locked behind us.

The entrance to the apartment was monitored twenty four hours a day, and that still didn't make Ranger relax when it came to our safety.

"I tried," I admitted."I still need a lot more practice, but I feel pretty good about what I walked away with today."

"If you want, you can enjoy your reward while I take a shower," Ranger told me.

"I thought you in the shower _was _my reward," I said, eyeing him up and down.

Damn, he was hot.

"Not today," Ranger said, his eyes doing a little wandering of their own over my form-fitting workout clothes."I have to get back downstairs and clean up the mess this morning's call left. And if you start anything, I won't want to leave until I'm sure you can't walk, so it's better if we wait until tonight."

"Are you sure?" I asked, trailing a fingertip over his bicep and down his forearm until I curled my hand around his."It might not take as long as you think, my legs are already feeling unsteady."

And only a little bit of that was caused by the exercise I got downstairs.

"Once you go into the kitchen," Ranger said, his lips smiling a little,"you'll forget all about me. Before I came back to Rangeman and met you in the gym, I stopped at Tasty Pastry and got you a Boston Cream and a jelly doughnut. I'm proud of you for making the decision to do this, and for following through with it, and this was one way I could show you that without it taking as much time as what I'd really like to give you would. I told myself that the jelly doughnut at least had a fruit somewhere near it at one point in time."

I threw my body against his, and wrapped my arms around his neck."I love you so much at this moment, Ranger. Will you marry me?"

"I asked first," Ranger said to me, holding my face still for his kiss.

When I was breathless for the third time today, Ranger let my lips go.

"I would've said yes if I hadn't beaten you to popping the question."

"I'm glad you did the asking," I told him."I would have chickened out."

"Steph, I have no doubt that if you wanted to marry me, you would have found a way of doing it. Even if it involved a stun gun and handcuffs."

I smiled up at him."If you hadn't been so persuasive and patient, you might have been the one needing the stun gun."

Ranger bent his head close again."I don't need a stun gun, I have more effective ways of making you immobile."

And vocal, wet, and satisfied, too, I thought to myself as he kissed me.

My fingers were tangled in his hair and I was up on tiptoes, pressing my body along the hard contours of his, by the time he raised his head from mine.

"That's going to have to hold me until tonight," Ranger said, his voice sending shivers of pleasure through the parts of me that had started throbbing as soon as he pressed his lips to mine."I have to get moving."

"Go ahead and hit the shower, Soldier," I said to him, feeling playful."I have a scheduled consult with two doughnuts in the kitchen."

Ranger grinned and walked with me as far as the kitchen, then disappeared into the bedroom.

I was licking chocolate off my fingers when Ranger came back out.

"Not to quote Santos," he said to me,"but do you need help with that?"

"Nope. I got it all. I'm_ very _thorough."

"Don't I know it, Babe."

"I'm going to get cleaned up and then head down to five," I said to him."Will I see you sometime before supper?"

"I should be in my office for the rest of the day," he said."I'll let you know if I have to leave."

"You know where I'll be."

Ranger closed the distance between us and kissed me goodbye. He looked down at me with the barest hint of a smile when we broke apart.

"I might change my opinion of doughnuts if they're served to me like this."

"Sure you would. Sugar is still sugar, even if you lick it off my skin."

"But my heart rate goes up every time I lick your skin, so it might come out even."

"If you keep saying things like that, I'm going to be forced to call Tank and tell him that he can't have you today."

"As much as I'd like to hear that phone call, Tank gets bitchy if he has too much paperwork to do. And no one wants a bitchy Tank."

"Yeah, it probably wouldn't be good for the guys," I said to Ranger.

"No, it wouldn't. I'll meet up with you downstairs."

I managed to get out an okay before he was gone.

I made it to my cubby a half hour later. I turned on my computer and said goodbye to the outside world until ten past twelve when I finally resurfaced, ready for lunch. Maybe I should have brought some pizza and fries back for Rodriguez last night, because I'm convinced that even a busy company like Rangeman can't possibly have this much computer crap to sort through every day unless Rodriguez was creating it himself just for kicks.

I was just rolling my chair back, wondering if Ranger would want me to bring him something from the kitchen, when my cell rang. I had a perfectly good phone on my desk, so I don't really know why I brought another source of irritation with me except that it's become another bad habit I should work on breaking.

"Stephanie, this is your mother," my mom said, after my resigned hello.

You'd think after thirty years, she would realize that I knew the sound of her voice. Of course, she wasn't aware of me unconsciously going into a full body cringe upon hearing it. Okay, sometimes it was a conscious cringe, too.

"Hi, Mom. What's up?"

I knew what was coming. And there was no way to prevent it. Ranger and I have been engaged for longer than twelve hours and we haven't as yet been to dinner at my parents' house together. A big no-no in my mother's book. And now it was time to face the music, or the _crazy _in this case.

"When are you and Ranger coming to dinner?" My mother asked, like I didn't know she already had tonight picked and planned out, right down to the side dishes and napkin holders.

"I don't know," I said, hoping for some type of reprieve, like maybe an alien could beam me up and let me hang out on another planet so I wouldn't have to finish this conversation."Ranger's been really busy, and I ..."

My mother cut me off."Stephanie Plum, are you making up excuses to get out of dinner with your parents? We only want to visit with you and our future son-in-law, and you are acting like you're ashamed of us."

I swear I could hear a fake sniffle.

"No Mom, I'm not avoiding dinner." Much."I'll check with Ranger and see when he's free."

She abandoned the dramatics and went back to Burg mother mode."Dinner is at six. We're having salad, chicken with brown rice stuffing, sauteed vegetables, and roasted potatoes. Don't be late." And she hung up.

Damn. She really wanted us there. The dinner was even centered around Ranger's obnoxious diet. I can guarantee that my dad wasn't the one looking for salad or vegetables. I should have asked what was for dessert. I'd need something to get me through dinner. Looks like my life changing goals were all going to start immediately. The gym this morning and my mother tonight. The old Stephanie would have been in Point Pleasant by now, eating ice cream on the beach while trying to avoid her life. I was making progress.

I sighed, heaved myself out of my chair, and went to see who was manning the controls.

"Hey, Hal," I said, walking to the monitors."Are you ever not here?"

"It doesn't seem like it," Hal said to me.

"Do you know if Ranger is busy with Tank?" I asked him."I know he's still in the building, but I don't want to bother him if he's in the middle of something. I haven't seen anything beyond my computer screen for the last hour."

"I doubt Ranger would consider seeing you a bother," Hal said."And I saw Tank leave about forty minutes ago."

"Okay. Thanks, Hal."

"I saw what you did to Lester. It's pretty cool that you can do something like that and both be laughing about it afterwards."

"I get that he's just kidding with all the crap he says, and he knows that I wouldn't seriously try to hurt him, even if I could. I wouldn't intentionally maim any of you."

Hal gave me a shy smile, and nodded at my shirt."Around here, we really do see you as Rangeman's First Lady," he told me, blushing a little.

"Thank you for that," I said to him."I wouldn't want to work with anyone but you guys. Well, you guys and Lula. Or maybe I'd work with you and celebrate the capture with Lula afterwards, that way there would actually be something to celebrate."

Hal laughed.

"If anyone's looking for me, or Lester wants a rematch, I'll be in Ranger's office after I get us some lunch," I told him, and headed towards the kitchen.

I picked up two bottles of water, a couple of sandwiches, and a yogurt parfait as a poor substitute for the bag of chips and Tastykake that I really wanted. I carried everything down the hall to Ranger's office, and gave the partially open door a knock with my elbow before pushing my way past it.

"I brought lunch," I told Ranger, and set the food down on his desk.

"Thank you, Babe," Ranger said, giving me a quick kiss when my hands were free."I would have forgotten to grab something."

"I would have been here sooner, but my mom called," I said to him.

"What did she want?" Ranger asked, unwrapping a roast beef sandwich on whole-wheat bread.

"She has a dinner planned for us tonight, but if you have to work ..." I said, sitting down in the chair across from his desk.

"Babe, we're going. I'm not about to give your parents the impression that I'm purposely avoiding this conversation. If they have a problem with me based on something I've done, then I can't do much to change it, but I'm not going to shoulder anything that I don't deserve."

"If I know my mother, I'm the one that's going to be in the hot seat tonight, not you."

"Why?" Ranger asked me, after he finished his food and reached for a water bottle.

I rolled my eyes at the question, and crumpled up the plastic wrap from my own sandwich.

"_The wedding_. She's going to want in on planning it. And I'm going to have to break the news to her that she's not getting a say. It could turn ugly before dessert."

"I have faith that you can control the situation_ and _your mother, Babe."

"I don't know about that," I told him,"but I'm going to do my best."

"That will be more than enough, Steph. And just remember that I'll be with you this time."

"I won't forget that, believe me."

We ended up sharing the parfait, since I only picked one up and also only one spoon. Ranger didn't mind sharing, though. I sat on the edge of his desk while he fed me spoonfuls of _not sweet enough _yogurt and _not exactly terrible _granola. When the cup was empty, and Ranger's hand moved to my leg, I let out a contented sigh. I really couldn't imagine feeling like this with Joe. Morelli either wanted sex, or for me to go get him a beer. I couldn't see him feeding me just because he enjoyed doing it without expecting something for himself in return.

"Steph," Ranger said, interrupting my thoughts which I learned was actually his intention,"I don't like you thinking about other men, especially when I'm sitting right here in front of you."

I smiled at him."I guess it's a good thing that you've blown the other man out of the water a _loooong_ time ago, so you have absolutely no reason to be upset."

"Glad to hear it. Is dinner at six?"

"Is there any other dinner time in the Burg?" I asked.

"Not that I've heard," Ranger said."I'll make sure I'm done here by five."

I slid off his desk and dumped our trash in the wastebasket by Ranger's desk. I'd be concerned about leaving food wrappers in here, but as soon as Ranger steps out of the office the trash will magically be removed. This building is weird like that.

"Thank you, Ranger, for doing this."

Ranger stood and pulled me to him."There's nothing to thank me for, Steph. This is our life from now on."

I laughed into his chest."And you still want to go through with marrying me?"

"Yes. Are you going to wait for me down here?"

"Yeah," I said to him."I can get the rest of my work done so tomorrow I might have a chance to check in with Connie. That, and my hair has been mostly under control and I won't need the extra hours to tame it."

Ranger put his hands on my waist and gave me a gentle kiss. I opened my mouth and enjoyed the feeling of his hands and mouth touching me, if only in this small way.

"Do you think there's ever going to be a time when we'll be sick of each other?" I asked, when we broke apart.

"Why do you think I've kept so many secrets from you?" Ranger said.

"Because you're annoying?"

"No. It's so I can keep your attention," he said with a grin."You bore easily. And if I lost the 'mystery' surrounding me, you might move on."

"Yeah, I'm sure _that's _the real reason," I told him."It's got nothing to do with national security or secret government agencies. And your abs alone would hold my attention."

"You do spend a considerable amount of time running your fingers over them."

His abs among other things. What can I say? I'm naturally drawn to_ all _the hard areas of his body.

"And to answer your question,_ no, _I don't think we'll get tired of any part of each other."

"Good answer," I said."Okay, I'm going back to my cubby now. I'll see you at five."

The afternoon passed slowly. Ranger had pegged me correctly. By four o'clock I was bored out of my mind. I played solitaire on my computer, checked for messages on my phone - there were none since I already answered my mother's call - and doodled all over one report cover. Which _did_ give me something to do since I had to print out a new one.

God must have taken pity on me and sent in Ella. Okay, Ella came everyday at this time to bring the guys working here food, but today she let me help her carry and arrange things to pass the time, and she also stayed to keep me company when we were finished.

I was telling her about Tank dumping Joyce outside Pino's when Ranger walked into the control room kitchen.

"Ready, Babe?"

I stood up from the table Ella and I were sitting at."Yup. I was just filling Ella in on our night out."

"It sounds like you had a good night," Ella said.

"We did," I told her,"but we missed you and Louis."

"We'll try to make it next time."

"I'm going to hold you to that," I said."Now I have to go give my mother a completely different version of what went on last night."

Ella smiled."Good luck," she said."I would make sure to leave out what you said to that Joyce woman."

"I will."

Ranger slid his arm around me and didn't remove it until we reached the front door of his - soon to be _our_ - apartment. I stopped to give Rex a baby carrot from the fridge before I came face-to-face with the walk-in closet and my clothing choice for the night. Ranger ditched his gun, the one that I could see anyway, swapped out his T-shirt for a dress shirt, and he was all set to leave. This is one of the only times I wanted to be a man. It took them only five minutes to get dressed up, ten if they had to shower first. During a stakeout was another, because guys can pee _anywhere_, while women have to go find the nearest store or restaurant, usually leading you to miss the skip altogether by the time you returned which sometimes forced you into contact with the bad guys who were also chasing your FTA.

After ten minutes of deliberating, I decided on a black swirly skirt, black FMPs, and a tight pale blue sweater. I refluffed my hair, added more mascara, a darker lipstick, and a little concealer to my cheek, and I was ready only fifteen minutes after Ranger. Not bad.

Ranger gave my legs and chest an appreciative glance when he saw me.

"I know what I'd like to have for dinner," Ranger said to me.

"What or _who_?" I asked.

"Definitely a _who_," he said, and took my hand.

We stopped in the little entrance way so Ranger could get our jackets. I picked up my bag after Ranger helped me with my coat. I was going to tell him that I could put it on without assistance, but then he lifted my hair out of the collar and kissed my neck before he let it back down, so I snapped my mouth shut. I was independent, not crazy. Ranger shrugged into his own coat and took the keys for the Turbo. Five minutes later, I was sinking into the Porsche's leather seat. Ranger got in beside me, and drove out of the garage and towards the Burg.

All too soon, we were pulling into my parents' driveway. I didn't see Valerie or Albert's vehicle so it looked like it was just going to be the five of us tonight unless Grandma had plans. But I doubted she did. Grandma Mazur was out late last night with us, and she_ never _missed a chance to visit with Ranger. As soon as my mother confirmed that we'd _both_ be coming, Grandma would be looking for the perfect outfit to wear for him, kind of like what I'd done.

Ranger parked and took the key out of the ignition. I reached for my door handle, but his hand caught my wrist, stopping me.

"I want to say one thing before we go inside," Ranger said, turning in his seat to face me."I married Rachel because I felt like I had to. I asked you to marry me because I want to be with you for the rest of my life. And however, or wherever, we decide to have the wedding is_ our _choice, not your mother's. This is the last time I'm making a commitment like this, and I want our wedding day to be about the two of us _only_. Don't let your mother, or anyone else, fuck with that."

"I won't," I told him. It was a promise to him as well as to myself.

I could go a long way on just those words from him. And I knew I'd remember every one of them during the month or two we'd spend planning our wedding, on the actual day itself, and all the way through our life together long after we'd been declared husband and wife.

A/N: **Since I don't have Ranger's self-defense skills, I used the book How to Kick Someone's Ass by E.R. Silverman to get an idea on holds Stephanie might find herself getting caught in.**


	11. Chapter 11

**I honestly thought that I wasn't going to have anything ready to post this week, but I finally managed to finish this chapter and hopefully it doesn't come across as rushed or seem like it was just thrown together. All characters belong to Janet. The mistakes are mine.**

**Chapter 11**

I leaned across the console and kissed Ranger, forcing myself not to get lost in the feel of the firm lips pressed against my own. And believe me, that was no small feat. Ranger must have felt the same way, because when I went to move away from him his fingers tunneled through my hair, bringing me back to him for a follow up.

"You ready to face your parents?" Ranger asked, a few breath-stealing moments later while brushing a curl away from my face.

"Yeah. You don't mind if I go back to ogling you if my mother gets too annoying to listen to, do you?"

"I've never had a problem with you ogling me, Babe. You know that."

"Jeez," I told him."I wasn't doing it_ that _much before."

"I thought you were going to avoid using denial tonight," he said to me.

"With my mother, _yes_. I didn't say anything about denying how freakin' sexy I thought you were."

"Were?"

"Yes. You're even hotter now. I don't know how you manage it, but it's true."

"I'm having similar thoughts about you, Steph."

"Just wait until I've worked out for a couple of weeks, you won't be able to resist me."

"I wouldn't want to."

"You know, now I'm thinking that this night has the potential to not completely suck," I said to him.

"Glad I could help."

We got out of the car and Ranger dropped an arm along my shoulders. Before his hand even had a chance to land on my shoulder, I was sliding my arm around his waist as we walked up the sidewalk to my parents' door.

Ranger opened the screen door for me and I walked ahead of him inside, almost mowing down my Grandma Mazur who'd been hurrying down the stairs, I'm assuming to beat my mother to the door.

"Stephanie, Ranger, you're finally here," Grandma said.

I picked up Ranger's arm and looked at the watch on his wrist."It's only quarter of six. We're early. I guess that explains why you guys weren't standing at the door when we drove up. I'm never early."

"I would have been down sooner, but I was trying to fasten this darn necklace. Who the heck decided to make those clasps so small anyway?"

"They have to be if you don't want them to be noticed," I told her."It's a pretty necklace, but you didn't have to get dressed up on our account."

"But we do appreciate all your efforts, Edna," Ranger said, pouring on the charm and making Grandma glow."You're looking beautiful this evening."

"Oh, stop," she said, blushing.

"If you think she's something now," I told Ranger,"you should see some pictures of Grandma when she was my age."

"I _was_ a looker," Grandma Mazur said.

"You still are," I said to her.

And when she throws on her hot pink spandex shorts and matching lipstick, people do more than just_ look _at her. They gasped, dropped their mouths open in shock, and averted their eyes quickly.

"Ranger, Stephanie," my mother said to us, finally coming out of the kitchen,"I'm happy that you both could join us."

"Like you gave us a choice?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

I decided on my way in here not to be so defensive tonight. When I made the mistake of handling our engagement news by myself, I was so worried about protecting Ranger that I lost an opportunity to set some guidelines with my mother. I wasn't stupid enough to do that again.

"I just thought that we all needed a chance to sit down and talk," she said.

"She's been in and out of that kitchen every five minutes checking on the food," Grandma said, ratting my mother out."She was afraid something would burn, the rice would be clumpy, or the potatoes wouldn't have enough salt on them."

It sounded like my mother was actually nervous about tonight. And that was something I could definitely use to my advantage.

"_Mother_," my mom said, trying to shush Grandma.

I was starting to feel like I was with Connie and Lula. Maybe that would be the way to handle these two in the future. Don't take them too seriously, and threaten the heck out of them if they got too personal.

"I'm sure what you've prepared for dinner will be exceptional," Ranger said to my mother.

"I tried," my mother told Ranger."Stephanie has mentioned that you're particular about what you eat."

Hmm, this is a toughy. She could be making an attempt at conversation or she could be going for an illegal shot below the belt. I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt here. Only once, though.

"Ranger chooses to be as healthy as he can so he won't keel over from a heart attack," I told her."And I appreciate that. I want as much time with him as I can have."

"Same here, Babe."

"Aren't they something?" Grandma said, smiling at us.

"Where's Dad?" I asked, slipping my jacket off and taking Ranger's to put both of them away in the hall closet.

"Where do you think he is?" My mother asked, not really expecting an answer.

I gave one anyway."In front of the TV?"

"Yes. _Frank_!" She hollered towards the living room."Stephanie and Ranger are here! The least you can do is come say hello to them!"

"Don't start picking on Dad," I said to her."It's a small house, we were bound to find him."

"She's been driving us bonkers all day long," Grandma Mazur said to us.

"How come?" I asked.

Since it looked like we weren't leaving the entrance way any time soon, I leaned back against Ranger and got comfortable. I'm so used to it that I don't even realize I'm doing it anymore. Ranger's hand was at my hip a beat later. How touchy-feely we are with each other does seem strange now, considering we've spent years trying to keep some type of distance between us at all times.

"This is an important night," my mother said.

"It's just dinner," I told her.

"Yeah, and it'd be hard to top last night at Pino's."

"Don't start, Mother. I can't believe that you snuck out of the house again. I thought I was through checking beds at night when Stephanie moved out. Now I'm reliving her teenage years with my seventy two year old mother."

"What would you be doing if I wasn't here?" Grandma Mazur asked."Staring at the walls of this house until Frank came home? Having coffee and boring conversations with other Burg wives too much like yourself for anyone's liking? Ironing away everybody else's problems? I keep your life interesting. And you should be thanking me for it."

"You keep _everyone's_ life interesting," I said.

"I'm gonna die someday, and I plan on living every second of my life until I do."

"You go, Grandma."

My mother sighed dramatically. No doubt seeing all the late nights, police visits, and phone calls she'll be suffering through until that happened. Which I prayed wouldn't be for a long, _long _time.

"Let's go sit down in the living room like civilized people," my mom said to us,"since your father isn't willing to move away from the television."

I thought my dad was smart. I'd rather be in front of the TV, too.

I took Ranger's hand in mine and we walked into the living room.

"Hi, Dad," I said, as he stood up from his chair.

Ranger and I must be getting VIP treatment tonight, because my father not only got up out of his chair to hug me and shake Ranger's hand, he also muted the TV. That hadn't happened since Valerie announced that she was pregnant.

"You brought reinforcements?" He asked, nodding to Ranger.

"Yep. I learned my lesson from last time," I told him, as I sat on the couch, tugging on Ranger's hand until he was sitting down next to me before letting go.

"Stephanie, don't say that," my mother said, taking the chair across from us."You'll give Ranger the wrong idea."

"Ranger already knows what dinner here is like," I said to her.

"Yeah, it's a nut house," Grandma said."It'll be quieter tonight, though. Valerie, Albert, and the girls are having dinner at _his_ parents' house."

"I was wondering about that," I told her."I thought for sure they'd be here."

"I figured since Valerie and Albert were busy," my mother said to me,"it would be a nice night for the two of you to visit."

"Don't listen to that, Stephanie," Grandma Mazur said."As soon as she knew what day Valerie and the girls weren't going to be here, she got started on this ambush."

"For heaven's sake, I'm not_ ambushing _anyone, Mother. Tonight just seemed like a good time to discuss your wedding without any distractions."

I was hoping this conversation was going to wait until after dinner, but maybe it's better this way. If my mother or I got mad enough, I wouldn't have to stay and eat the dinner she made. I'd miss dessert, though. Which reminds me ...

"What are we having for dessert?" I asked her.

"Chocolate cake. Why?" My mother asked.

Damn. I love chocolate cake. I guess she wasn't attempting a healthy dessert. That was probably a smart move to avoid a possible mutiny from my father and grandmother. But even huge vats of melted chocolate couldn't come close to the happy feelings I'll get by being completely in control of my life for once. This morning showed me that. If I felt I could confidently take on an armed assailant, my mother should be nothing in comparison. She_ should be_, but a guy with a gun doesn't have knowledge of the first thirty years of my life to use as a weapon against me. And, to me, that's a much more painful one to use than a knife or a gun.

I glanced at Ranger. His eyes were steady when they met mine and he squeezed my leg reassuringly. He trusted me to deal with my mother. I blew out a breath. I could do this, and hopefully I could do it without offending anyone.

"Mom, Ranger and I haven't really talked about our wedding, but it's at the top of our to-do list."

"I timed this perfectly then," she said."We can start tonight."

"No, Mom. Ranger and I are going to do this ourselves. We just haven't had the time to figure out any details."

"Well, if you're busy it just makes sense for me to help out. You don't even have to ask."

"Helen," my dad said,"we already discussed this."

"Frank, weren't you listening? Stephanie just said that they haven't got time to plan anything. I'm only offering them assistance."

"No, you're not," I said, carefully."You're trying to find a way to take over. I only said that Ranger and I haven't seriously talked about it yet, but we will. And I'm not looking for help from anyone except Ranger. Both of us have already been through this before and we're not having any weddings after this one. And, because of that, we want our wedding to involve only us so it will turn out exactly how _we_ want it to."

"All right," my mother said to me."You can just tell me what you would like and I'll work with you to get it."

"Mrs. Plum," Ranger said,"we appreciate you wanting to help, but Stephanie and I will make time to arrange everything."

"That's why I want to do it soon," I told them,"so I can't make the wedding more complicated than it needs to be."

"You underestimate yourself, Steph," Ranger told me, lacing our fingers together and resting them on his leg.

Ranger probably saw it as a gesture of support, but I saw it as a lifeline. Not just tonight. And not just for confrontations with my mother.

I noticed Grandma watching us, a knowing smile on her face when her eyes dropped to our hands. My mother being my mother didn't see anything beyond her own plans for us.

"How soon?" She asked.

"I'm looking at a month. Two at the most," I told her.

"Stephanie, it's not possible to accomplish anything in that amount of time. You remember how long it took to organize your wedding to Richard Orr?"

"Yeah, I do," I said."No matter how hard I try, I can't block it out."

"Can you please be serious," she said to me.

"I'm completely serious." I still can't believe I was stupid enough to marry Dickwad Orr.

She sighed again, and I had to bite my lip to keep from smiling at her frustration. I turned my head into Ranger's shoulder to give myself a second to control what my face really wanted to be doing.

"All I'm trying to say, is that it takes time to pull off something as big as a wedding," my mom said, trying again.

"And that's what I'm trying to tell you, I don't want something_ big_. I went through hell letting you and Dickie's mother be in charge of everything, all for a marriage that didn't even last as long as the preparations took. Ranger had a quick, simple wedding and I had one with all the bells and whistles. I want us to have something nice in between the two."

"Then that's what we'll have, Steph," Ranger said to me.

"But you won't be able to do that," my mother told me,"without someone assisting you."

"Helen, leave it alone," my dad said."They are old enough to know what they want. They don't need you to decide anything for them."

"Whatever Stephanie wants," Ranger said to my parents, and I guess to me as well,"I'll find a way of making it happen."

I cut my eyes to him."You aren't getting out of this that easy," I warned him."It has to be okay with you, too."

"Steph, when have I ever not said what I was thinking?" He asked me.

"That depends," I said to him."_Recently_ you've been very good at saying what you feel, but you had a crappy track record in the past."

His lips moved slightly in either an abbreviated small, or a barely suppressed grimace. Both would be fitting.

"Don't give him a hard time," Grandma said to me."He showed up here with you, that should cancel out a few of those times."

"Oh, it does," I assured both her _and _Ranger."After we get through the wedding, the slate will be wiped completely clean."

"Can we write up an agreement that states that?" Ranger asked me.

I let go of him long enough to playfully jab him in the ribs."Very funny."

"It sounds like a good idea to me," my dad said to us. He looked in my mother's general direction."I could have used one myself many times."

"Frank! What a thing to say," my mother said to him."You don't want to give Ranger and Stephanie a bad impression of marriage."

Considering I've seen firsthand how their marriage worked for the past thirty years, I already knew the wrong way to coexist. My parents spent most of their time apart. My father drives his cab during the day and spends a lot of his evenings playing cards with the guys from the lodge, and my mother is busy everyday with household chores, volunteer work at the church, and interfering in Burg functions. She's talked about going back to school, or doing something at St. Francis hospital, but when pressed, she always claims to be too busy to follow through with it. I didn't want that to be me. Like Grandma, I want to live as much as I can before I die, and have more accomplishments than regrets at the end of my life.

And I also didn't want mine and Ranger's marriage to be one like my parents have. There are parts of Ranger's job that I won't be included in, and the same can be said about my work not always involving Ranger, but I didn't want our lives to be so separate that we have nothing in common to discuss at the end of the day. Being able to talk to Ranger about _anything_ was the cornerstone of our friendship at first, and now our relationship, and I wanted that to continue over the course of our marriage. And I think Ranger would agree, since he still seems to be amused by everything that comes out of my mouth. Ranger has always said that he wouldn't lie to me, and he never has, so I believe him when he says that he wants to spend the rest of his life with me. And as long as we both keep up our end of things, I knew we'd be okay. I wouldn't feel complete without Ranger. And seeing as how he still fell in love with me - against his better judgement and when he considered me unavailable - I think we are on the same page there, too.

"Mom, Ranger and I were both married before," I told her."We know how difficult living together is with the wrong person."

Just ask Joe, I thought to myself. We fought every other day. And more times than not, we refused to speakto each other _at all_.

"Good thing Ranger's so relaxed," Grandma said to me,"because you were real cranky when I stayed with you."

Grandma's pancakes were good, but losing my bed and almost a week of sleep wasn't worth the extra calories. Grandma snores like a buzzsaw, or maybe the sound she makes is closer to_ two _buzzsaws. Only Lula could compete with her when it came to loudness and duration. It was during that stay that Ranger went FTA and kept breaking into my apartment. One memory that never failed to wake up my nipples, and everything below them, was when Ranger ended up full length on top of me on my living room carpet. We'd been lying breast to chiseled chest and my doodah had been only a few layers of fabric away from Ranger's package. Things were just starting to heat up when Grandma came out of the bedroom, which made Ranger roll off of me. At that moment I had to force myself not to wrap my arms and legs around him and hold on tight. And that wouldn't have been good because it was during one of the on-again phases in mine and Joe's relationship. But ever since Ranger had let it be known that he was interested in me, it's been that hot every time we were near each other. It was almost like when he kissed me the first time, Ranger somehow claimed a part of me that no one but him would be able to turn on again. Joe was extremely good in bed, but even he couldn't completely block Ranger from my mind.

I looked up at Ranger and I knew he was thinking about the same middle of the night tackle. His eyes darkened and I swallowed, pulling my eyes away from him with obvious effort. It would be totally embarrassing to have a no-contact orgasm with my parents sitting right in front of me.

"I wasn't that bad," I told Grandma, when I was sure my voice wouldn't give away what I'd really been thinking about.

"Yeah, you were. Plus I couldn't get any sleep there. You had things going on at all hours of the night," she said."It was fun at first, but it got to be too much, even for me."

"What kind of things?" My dad asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

Yeah, like there was a chance in hell that I was going to answer that question honestly?

"I told you guys about that," I said."I was babysitting Bob and Mooner kept showing up. Dougie, too."

"That stoner kid and his friend?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"Where do you find these people?" My mother asked me.

"High school."

"That explains two of them," Grandma said,"but there are tons more. As soon as you get one whacko locked up, three more show up at your door."

"Job hazard," I told her.

I didn't want to discuss my job, which would only start my mother on another rant I didn't want to listen to, so I concentrated on finding a safe subject change. My mother's brain was apparently working faster than mine because she found her own topic of conversation, or another angle if you wanted to truthfully call it something.

"Will Julie be in the wedding?" She asked.

"I don't know," I told her. I turned towards Ranger."We should definitely pick a day when she'll be out of school."

"Rachel has already said that Julie can attend on whichever day we finally choose. Julie wants to be here, and she wasn't willing to take no for an answer."

That made me smile."Like father like daughter."

"You weren't kidding?" My mom asked."You really haven't picked a date yet?"

"Nope. We have a time frame, though."

"You can't be serious? It will be next to impossible to have a decent wedding on two months notice, and you still aren't even close to deciding on an actual day?"

"You're gonna pop a vein if you keep that up," Grandma said to her.

Yeah, and we wouldn't want that to happen, would we?

"Mrs. Plum ..." Ranger started to say.

"You don't have to be so formal, Ranger," my mother told him, her manners kicking in."The last time Stephanie brought you over for dinner, I said that it was all right to call me Helen. And I hope that you feel comfortable doing so now since we are practically family. You _are_ marrying my daughter."

Good idea, Mom, I mentally said. Remind Ranger that you're part of the Plum package. That should help. _Not_.

"All right, _Helen_," he said with the patience of a saint,"whatever Stephanie chooses, I'll make sure that she has it."

"Ranger," I said to him,"I don't want this to turn into a big deal."

"It's your_ wedding_," my mom told me."Of course it's going to be a 'big deal'."

"Exactly, it _my_ wedding," I looked at Ranger again,"_our _wedding, and I want it to be relatively small. Okay, as small as it can be and still include all the guys. And that means no live music, no huge hideous bridesmaid dresses ..."

"You should rethink that," Grandma Mazur said."You could get back at Valerie for that eggplant thing she wanted you to wear."

Hmm, that dress was freakin' ugly.

I sighed. "No. I'm not using this for payback. Though now that I remember how terrified I'd been to wear that thing in public, Valerie does have something coming to her."

"Leave your sister alone," my mom told me.

"I am," I said."For_ now_. I have too many other things going on to plot a proper revenge." Maybe I could ask Lester for some ideas.

Ranger smiled like he knew what I was thinking. He probably did. He was well aware of how bloodthirsty I can be.

"Getting back to the wedding ..." my mom said to me.

"There's nothing more to discuss," I told her."We don't have any solid plans yet, but I'll make sure you get an invitation when we have it all figured out."

"An invitation? That's it? That's all we're going to get?"

"Yep. Can we talk about something else now?"

"Yes," my dad said."_Please_."

My mother wasn't so accommodating.

"Okay, then, if you don't want to talk about the most important day of your life, would you like to discuss instead where you two are going to live?"

"Mostly at Rangeman," I told her,"but we are going to be looking for a house away from there."

"I can ask around to see what's for sale," my mom offered."Where are you going to start looking?"

"Miami," I said with a straight face.

Ranger nudged my knee with his. Either telling me that he thought that was a good one, or he was trying to keep me from antagonizing my mother too much.

I gave Ranger a little shrug. It's not my fault that she walked right into that. I couldn't pass up an opportunity to mess with her a little.

"You're thinking about moving?" She asked, sounding so upset at the thought that I felt a tiny bit guilty for teasing her."I thought you would be looking for a house in the area. I never dreamed that you'd be leaving Trenton. All of your family is here. Why would you want to leave your family?"

Why indeed? I asked myself. Before I joked about Miami, I'd already told her that we'd be living at Rangeman but, like always, my mother jumped all over the unimportant part of what I said. If I _did_ want to leave Trenton, which I don't, it would have nothing at all to do with these types of freak-outs over everything I did, would it?

"No, Mom. We're not moving ... yet," I added under my breath.

"Why would you do that?" my mother asked, her hand against her chest."You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Why?" I asked."Valerie lives five minutes away, you'd just bug her instead of me."

"I most certainly do not _bug_ you," she said."I _take care _of you."

"I hate to say this, but with you it's one in the same."

"Are you joking?" She asked."With you I can never tell if you're joking with me or not."

"This time I'm not, but I've grown used to you by now. I just want you to know that my wedding isn't up for debate. If I need an opinion, I'll ask. I'm not going to stress myself out like Valerie did trying to orchestrate the perfect day. If it gets to be too much to deal with, we'll just elope. Right, Ranger?" I asked him.

"Elvis is only a plane ride away," he said, a grin firmly in place.

"_No_," I said to him. I'm still going to hold out for an Elvis-free ceremony."There has to be at least_ one _chapel in Vegas with no impersonators of any kind."

"We can find one, Babe. I know a few people who would be happy to help us out."

The same people who cleared up his issue with the state of Nevada probably.

"I know that's what I would do," Grandma said."You could get your ring, then play the slots, and stay in one of them luxury hotels for your honeymoon. If you need a witness, I'd be happy to go along. I'll even pay for my own room and everything. I got some money in the bank, and I wouldn't mind spending it there."

"Thanks, Grandma, but that would be a last resort."

"It could save you some money if you went that route," my dad added helpfully.

My father wasn't at all interested in weddings. His own, his daughters, or anyone else's, but he still put on a suit and showed up for every one of them.

"Frank, don't encourage her," my mother said to him."You can't honestly tell me that you wouldn't want to see your daughter get married."

"Sure I'd like to see her walk down the aisle, but you, Edna, and Valerie were driving everyone crazy when she decided to go through with marrying Kloughn, and I don't want to live through that again. I'm still not sure what the hell she was thinking, picking _him _out of every single man left in the Burg."

"Valerie was desperate at the time, and then she was pregnant," I told him."That had a lot to do with it."

Hormones and desperation will make anyone hard to live with. Again, just ask Joe.

"Still," my dad said,"if eloping will keep _you_ from turning into_ them_, then I say do it."

"It won't come to that," I said, looking straight at my mother,"unless things become too difficult and I stop enjoying the process."

Sure, it was a form of emotional blackmail, or was it extortion? Either way, I was marrying Ranger on _our_ terms. And if my mother tried to take over, we'd call it off. I wanted our married life to start off without a huge wedding bill, no family animosity, or any stress between Ranger and I. I've seen a few episodes of Bridezillas, and I'd beg Ranger to shoot me before I turned into one.

By the pinched look on my mother's face, I knew she was taking me seriously. It wasn't an idle threat, and she understood that. She had no control anymore. If she pissed me off, she'd have to explain to everyone in the Burg why I'd run off to Vegas to get married without asking any of my family to be present. And I knew she'd rather pull out all of her own teeth with a pair of rusty pliers than do that.

Ranger slipped an arm around my shoulders and leaned in close."Well played, Babe," he whispered against my ear.

I settled more firmly into him and turned my head his way."Thank you. There is more than one way to take down an opponent," I said to him, referring to our training session this morning.

"You never stop surprising me."

"I don't intend to, either."

He kissed the curls at my temple as I smiled up at him.

It took my mother a few seconds, and a couple of deep breaths, to fully grasp what I was saying. When it seemed like it had finally sunk in, she didn't fight me. Really, she couldn't anyway. I hadn't left her any preferable choices. The only thing important to me was marrying Ranger. I'd like to do it surrounded by my family and friends, but a trip to Vegas wouldn't kill me. I didn't think we'd have to, though. Having a daughter elope would start a whole slew of rumors that my mother wouldn't want to have to explain away.

She proved me right when she focused her remaining energy into being the perfect hostess during dinner. She seemed subdued to me, but was still acting pleasant to Ranger, so I didn't push her anymore. I got her to listen to me, and got her hands off of my wedding, and that was enough for one night. Getting her to see that she'll have absolutely no say in any part of my life from now on would come later.

The food wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, either. My mother had a lot less practice than Ella at cooking Ranger-style food, so I could detect a little butter in the rice stuffing, and the potatoes were exactly how I liked them ... extra salty, but the meal in itself was still healthier than my mother's kitchen had probably seen since my dad's last doctor's appointment. The cake was how I liked it, too. Overly sweet and on a plate in front of me.

After my first bite of chocolate cake, I felt slightly bad about playing hardball with my mother, but that couldn't be helped. I knew that once she started giving her opinions, she wouldn't stop until I had a similar wedding to the one I had with Dickie and Valerie had with Steve. And I wasn't willing to risk my sanity just to keep her happy anymore.

When a bag was packed full of leftovers, since my dad wasn't going to be looking for them, and the kitchen was spotless again, Ranger and I said goodbye to my family with the promise to visit again soon. On our way back to Rangeman, Ranger brought up something that was mentioned earlier.

"Now that it's out there," he said, looking over at me when he stopped for a light,"a house in Miami isn't a bad idea."

"Ranger, I already told you that one house nearby is enough."

"Think about it, Babe. We could use it as a vacation home," Ranger said. His eyes were back on the road when the light turned green, but his mind was still on our conversation."And it would free up the seventh floor so whenever I need to send someone down there from the Trenton or Boston branch of Rangeman they can stay on seven instead of having to check for an available apartment on the fourth floor or wasting time looking for a hotel room in the area."

That did make a lot of sense. And Miami _is_ warm most of the time. Escaping Trenton once in awhile did hold a lot of appeal, too, especially during a Jersey winter when the snow started flying.

"Okay, if you want a house there," I told him,"I have no problem following you to Miami." I'd pretty much follow Ranger _anywhere_. A warmer climate would just be like extra icing on an already delicious cake.


	12. Chapter 12

**All familiar characters belong to Janet. The mistakes are mine.**

**Chapter 12**

"Would you rather have pineapple-upside-down cake or birthday cake?" Lula asked me.

"Hmm ... that's a tough one," I said to her,"but I'd have to go with birthday cake. It has frosting flowers."

"That's a real good point you got there," Lula said."Not much beats frosting."

Connie had one skip for me to catch after I'd finished my workout with Hal this morning. I would have been lucky enough to spend the morning with Ranger instead of Hal, but he had to wake up even earlier this morning to get in his own gym time before he left with Tank. I wasn't willing to wake up at four just to torture myself so, for cardio day, Hal got stuck with me. I think Ranger thought Hal would be the better choice because he knew I wouldn't yell obscenities at Hal. Hal spooks easily.

After showering, I picked up Lula to go after Dusty Webber. A petty thief, recreational drug user, and periodic pain in my ass. Vinnie seems to bond Dusty out every six months or so. Dusty is rude, mouthy, and lets just say that hygiene isn't a priority for him some days. I was tempted to hand him over to one of the guys, but that would be sending mixed messages. I couldn't tell everyone one minute that I wanted to do my job better and then ask them to take care of it for me.

The good news is that I lucked out and caught Dusty's cousin in a bad mood and he was more than happy to rat out Dusty. Apparently Dusty also has a real bad habit of borrowing money without actually asking for it first, and his cousin Derek is the latest victim. Derek told me that Dusty was due back home sometime around ten after a night spent with a woman he picked up at a bar. Lula and I had already checked out the inside of Dusty's house and it had been empty. I figured it wasn't 'breaking in' if the door's unlocked. Okay, it was unlocked only _after_ I jimmied it. Ranger had given me a few pointers on how to do it and I'd been excited to experiment on Dusty's door.

After Lula and I went inside, I realized we really should have stayed in the car. The house was disgusting. I don't think anyone has told Dusty that you're supposed to clean the place you live in once in awhile. Maybe that explained his nickname, but I think - _Nasty_, _Funky_, or _Oh dear God_, would have more accurately described him.

Now Lula and I were parked three houses away from the trashcan of a house Dusty claimed to be living in, watching the hideous bright blue building for signs of activity while playing a food version of 'Would You Rather?', trying to keep ourselves entertained as our asses fell asleep waiting for Dusty.

"Frosting makes everything better," I told her."Except maybe olives. Would you rather have Cluck-in-a-Bucket extra-crispy chicken or Pino's pizza?"

"Hey, that's not fair. Those are two different foods. How am I supposed to make an informed decision here?"

"I can pick food from the same restaurant if that will make it easier," I said to her.

"No. I can do this," Lula told me, and thought about it for a beat."Pizza _does_ have all the food groups."

"Only if you get one with the works. They do put a few vegetables on it in between the meat and cheese."

"The sauce is made of tomatoes," Lula said."And tomatoes _are_ a vegetable."

"No, they're a fruit."

At least that's what that skank Joyce told me. But she lies about _everything_, so tomatoes could very well be a vegetable.

"Well, them doctors are always sayin' you gotta eat fruits _and_ vegetables," Lula said."So I'm covered whichever way you look at it. That's why I always get ketchup with my fries. A good food always cancels out a bad food."

"Only in _your _world," I told her.

"Yeah, in my world I make all the rules. And french fries are made of potatoes, and they are definitely a_ vegetable, _so I'm making healthy choices right and left here."

I wondered briefly which would be worse, a world ruled by Lula or my mother? It would probably be the end of civilization either way.

"I think I'm gonna go with Pino's pizza," Lula decided finally."It's got more goin' on."

"That's what I would have picked, too."

I took one last look at Dusty's house before letting out a sigh.

"Okay, I'm done waiting for this idiot," I told Lula_._"I'm thirsty. And _both _sides of my ass are numb now."

"I bet Ranger could help get your ass circulatin' again," Lula said.

"He could, but he's not here."

I haven't seen him since he left the apartment after a quick shower at five-thirty this morning. This was going to be a long day.

"We'd best stop playin' this game," Lula told me."I'm startin' to get hungry. You want to go to Cluck-in-a-Bucket? You can get a soda and I can get my chicken."

"You just chose Pino's over Cluck-in-a-Bucket. Why would you suggest going there instead of Pino's?"

"I changed my mind. A woman is allowed to change her mind. It's one of the few rights we got. And I told you it was a hard choice."

"I'm starting to wonder if Dusty was supposed to be here or if Derek was just screwing with us," I said."And I'm not hanging around here any longer to find out. We can go to Cluck-in-a-Bucket and then head to Derek's house. I'm just irritated enough to arrest him, too."

"Can we do that?" Lula asked.

"Probably not, but I'm not above trying. I hate waiting."

"Yeah, you're not a very patient person."

"Like you are?" I asked her.

"Fuck yeah, I'm patient. You didn't see me shoot my way into that house while you were busy fumbling around with the lock, did you?"

"No. And I'm still learning. Ranger told me he'd give me a more in depth lesson this week."

"I bet he will. Speaking of Ranger, how about we talk about your dinner with him and your mother. I bet that went well," Lula said, as I started the car and drove out of Dusty's neighborhood.

"Actually, it did."

"You're shittin' me?"

"No. She started on me about the wedding,"

"I'm surprised she waited that long," Lula said to me."I thought your mother'd show up at the Rangeman gate as soon as she knew about you gettin' engaged."

"She did call the morning after I told her about us, but she doesn't have the same power over the phone."

"So how'd you shut her up in person?"

I smiled at the memory."I told her that Ranger and I would run away to Vegas if she tried to butt into our wedding."

Lula's head whipped around."You threatened your own mama?"

"Yep," I said."And I'd do it again."

"After all the sweaty superhero sex you've been participating in, I'm glad some of Ranger has rubbed off on you."

"I was just thinking last night that he has the patience of a saint. Maybe if we keep it up, that will rub off on me, too."

"I ain't seen no saint that looks like Ranger," Lula said to me.

"Have you seen many saints?" I asked, looking over at her.

"No. But if they had Ranger's face and body, I might have payed more attention to all that religion stuff."

And I might have gone to church more if I knew someone like Ranger was there.

I went to the drive-thru window and then pulled into the parking lot to eat.

"So where does this cousin live?" Lula asked, as she slurped up the rest of her extra-large soda.

"Ewing," I told her.

"You think Dusty's there?"

"Yeah."

After one final ice-jingling sip, she stuffed all our trash into the now empty chicken bucket.

"Let's go get Dusty's sneaky ass," she said.

"I know I'm ready," I told her."I'm not happy with either of them."

"Yep, they need to learn that it isn't smart to make two women like ourselves angry. I'm in the mood to kick some criminal behind."

"So am I."

I hate being lied to almost as much as I hate rolling around in garbage. I dumped our trash in the barrel near my car, and then pointed the Cayenne in the direction of Derek Webber's house.

I was driving down Main Street when something in the front window of a small boutique caught my eye.

"Oh my God," I said."That's it!"

"_What's_ it?" Lula asked me.

"My dress," I said, pointing to the store window."That's_ my _wedding dress."

"You can't just see a dress in a window and decide it's the one," she said."It doesn't work that way. You need to try on a bunch of shit first. And you have to have a group of us tellin' you what looks good and what makes you look like a weddin' cake."

I was too busy parking the Cayenne to argue with her."No, trust me on this, Lula._ That _is the dress I'm going to marry Ranger in," I said, opening my door.

"I thought you brides went nutty only when you started plannin' the weddin'. And just so you know," Lula said, making the little bell above the door ring as we walked into the store,"if you try to elope without me, I'm gonna fly myself to Vegas and whup your white ass. I'm seein' you marry your Man of Mystery. You got that?"

"Yes, _Mom_," I said to her.

I walked over to my dress with Lula hot on my heels, and I couldn't stop the warm feeling that spread through me at thinking of Ranger as _my_ Man of Mystery. God, I was pathetic.

Lula narrowed her eyes at me."Don't you give me none of that _mom_ shit. I ain't like your mama. I can't cook, I sure as hell don't iron, and I don't do any of that manipulation crap."

I rolled my eyes. _Sure,_ she didn't. But Lula tended to go for outright bullying rather than manipulation.

"Umm, can I help you?" The saleswoman asked, looking uneasily at Lula.

"Yes," I told her."I want _that_ dress." And I pointed to the window in front of us.

"That's a beautiful choice," she said."It just came in yesterday."

"Maybe you're onto somethin' with all that 'meant to be' talk," Lula said."What are the chances we'd be drivin' by the day they put it out?"

I didn't completely believe in luck or fate, but the timing of this _is_ interesting.

"Would you like to try it on?" The woman asked me."This is the only one we have, but it looks like it's your size."

"If it isn't," I told her,"I'll eat nothing but lettuce for a month to get into it."

She laughed."I don't think that will be necessary. When are you getting married?"

"Hopefully in a few weeks."

"One way or another," Lula muttered under her breath.

"If this dress fits like I think it will," the saleswoman said to me,"you'll have one less thing to worry about. The dressing rooms are toward the back of the store. You can head on over while I take this down."

"Isn't that gonna leave an empty space in your window?" Lula asked the woman.

"We have a few mannikins in the storeroom to take its place."

"That's how you know this is a_ fancy _place," Lula said, as we walked to the fitting rooms in between racks of clothes,"any other store would just leave a hole like a big 'ol missin' tooth right in front for everyone to see."

We looked at some of the clothes that were hanging on the rack closest to us, and I gasped when I saw the price tag for a tank top I liked. I was starting to worry about what my perfect dress would cost. I told myself it didn't matter. That was the dress I wanted, and I was going to get it somehow. And besides, if it didn't exactly fit, lettuce is cheap enough so I'd end up needing less money for food.

"Here we go," the woman said, walking over to us with the dress draped over her arm.

"Hurry up," Lula said to me."I gotta see what it looks like."

I took the dress from the woman and looked sideways at Lula."What if it _does_ fit and I don't want anyone to see it until the day of the wedding?"

"You've seen me kick down a door, this one will be a piece of cake."

"Actually, I've seen you shoot at a door. You never did manage to kick one in."

The saleswoman's mouth dropped open.

"It's okay," Lula told her."We're bounty hunters."

"Technically, _I'm _a bounty hunter. You're a file clerk."

"I'm more than that and you know it."

"You can prove it to me when we go visit Webber's cousin."

"That mean I can do whatever I want this time?" She asked me.

"Not unless he makes me mad," I said to her.

"Today's lookin' up," Lula said."First you find your dream dress and now I might be able to put a cap up someone's ass."

I didn't know if I could call it my_ dream _dress if I'd never dreamed of getting married. Let alone ... getting married_ twice_.

I caught the woman's eyes."Just ignore Lula," I said to her."That's what everyone else does."

"Hunh," Lula said."I ought to be offended."

"But you're not, are you?"

"Nope. It takes a lot to offend me."

"You need to remember that not everyone knows that you're joking," I told Lula.

"Who says I'm jokin'?"

I rolled my eyes and then smiled at the saleswoman."See, that's why we ignore her."

The woman laughed, her nerves lessening considerably.

"Are you gonna try that on now?" Lula asked me.

"Yup."

I walked into a dressing room that was nicer than my apartment and locked the door so I'd have a little warning before Lula barged in. This is probably what skip chasing would be like if I had to go along with my mother. Lula and my mom did have a few similarities. They both have a flair for the dramatics, were obsessed with my love life, and couldn't keep their opinions to themselves. Maybe it was something about me that attracted people like them. Then again, Ranger was attracted to me and he isn't anything like my mom or Lula. Though he is obsessed with my love life, but that's only because he's the star of it.

I heard a bang on the door."I don't hear no clothes rustlin'," Lula said."What the heck are you doing in there?"

I didn't think she'd care for my thoughts on how like my mother she is so I didn't bother answering her question.

"I'll be right out," I told her, and got busy changing.

I couldn't remove my clothes faster than Ranger got me out of them, but I was close. When I smoothed the dress down my body and looked at my reflection in the full-length mirror, I had to take a moment to collect myself. I'm no supermodel, but the woman looking back at me in the mirror is the one I want to be. Confident, classy, and also beautiful. The perfect match for Ranger.

After one last glance in the mirror, I blew out a breath and opened the door to get Lula's opinion.

"Holy fuck!" She said."I don't swing that way, but if I did, I'd be givin' you a second look in that. You were right, that is _your_ dress."

"You look absolutely stunning," the saleswoman said.

And I don't think she was only saying that to make a sale.

The sleeveless dress with a deep V neckline, and body-hugging fit, accentuated all the things that I like about my body. It brought attention to my breasts without appearing trashy. The ruched waist made mine seem smaller without making my ass look big. And it didn't have a seven-foot long train to trip over. It was simple, elegant, and I was getting it even if I had to work twenty-four hours a day from now until the wedding.

"If you don't buy that dress," Lula said, apparently thinking the same thing,"I'll shoot you myself."

I turned to the saleswoman."How much is it?" I asked her.

"We can work something out," she said."My sister Jessica is the owner of the store and I'm sure she'll be fine with me putting it aside for you."

I started breathing again. I didn't really like lettuce and I wasn't looking forward to reducing my food budget. Now I might not have to.

"Thank you," I told her."I was ready to handcuff myself to the door so nobody would make off with the dress until I could pay for it."

"She's got handcuffs," Lula said to the woman."And she'd do it, too. Steph goes after what she wants. That's how she roped Batman."

"Batman?"

"Nickname," I told her.

"It's just my sister and I running the store," the woman said to me."If I'm not here when you come back, just tell Jessica that you're the woman Katie told her about."

"Thank you," I said."I really appreciate this."

"Now that we got that settled," Lula started to say.

"We?" I asked her.

"Okay, _you two _figured this out, but now that you got your dress, we gotta go get Webber so you can pay for it."

I sighed. Looks like the clock just struck twelve and I was back to being Stephanie Plum again.

_I'll be back_, I mentally told my dress, and went to change into my jeans and T-shirt.

I passed the dress to the saleswoman, promising her that I'd be back tomorrow. I had to catch Dusty now. Between my savings and his capture money I should be able to swing it.

"I got a good feelin' about this capture," Lula said, as we buckled ourselves into the Cayenne.

"You always say that when something is about to go to hell."

"This time might be different."

"Maybe," I said, not convinced at all.

I left the store lot and drove to Derek's house.

The shotgun-style house was in much better condition than Dusty's. At least it looked like it was from the outside. I parked on the street, making sure to lock my doors when Lula and I stepped out of the car. My spidey-sense immediately started humming. I'd bet anything that Dusty is in that house.

"He's here," I told Lula.

"Who's here?"

"Dusty."

"How do you know that?" Lula asked."Did you see him? I don't know how you could have. It looks like those curtains ain't never been opened."

"I just know."

Ranger is always telling me to trust my instincts, and right now they were screaming at me. Derek was either full of shit, or Dusty coughed up what he owed him. It didn't matter which is was, I was pissed off at both of them now.

"I know that look," Lula said, watching me."I'm gonna get to give a beatdown today."

"Maybe one to the cousin, too," I told her.

"Let's do this."

"Since this house seems to be surrounded by chain link, we'll have to both take the front door, unless you think you can get yourself over the fence to the back door."

Lula's eyes bugged out."You think I can shimmy up a fence in this skirt? I was lucky I got out of your car without flashin' everybody my goods."

"Why don't you dress appropriately?" I asked Lula.

"I_ am _dressed appropriately."

"For what?" I asked, checking out her black sequined miniskirt and red stretched-beyond-capacity tank top with silver thread woven into it.

If I lined Lula up perfectly with the sun, I might be able to blind Dusty and get him into the Cayenne before his retinas had a chance to cool.

"For this capture," she said."Those idiots will be so distracted by my voluptuousness, they won't even notice you until you snap cuffs on 'em."

I guess there's more than one way to blind a fugitive.

Lula stood on the right side of the door, I took the left and knocked loudly. There was no answer and I wasn't surprised. I was expecting Dusty to bolt, and Derek was giving him time to do just that. I knocked harder and finally heard shuffling from inside the house. And when a guy who bore a striking resemblance to Dusty opened the door, I saw the back door closing behind him.

"He's on the move," I told Lula."Will you be all right here? I want to get Dusty before he disappears on me."

Lula looked Derek Webber up and down."You go on ahead, I can handle his scrawny ass all on my own."

I didn't doubt Lula, so I pushed past Derek and took off after Dusty through the house, pulling the gun out of my waistband as I did. When I hit dirt, I stopped and looked around the backyard. I saw more fencing, lots of tall weeds, and Dusty standing in an empty lot on the opposite side of the fence enclosing Derek's house. Shit. Unless I was going to shoot him, I had to climb the stupid thing. I knew he'd be long gone if I went back into the house.

I walked across the yard and got close enough to Dusty to see the jerk sneering at me.

"Come and get me, bitch," Dusty said, standing still with his fingers curled around the metal.

The asshole wasn't even attempting to run

"Oh, that's original," I told him, getting a little angry because he didn't think I could bring him in.

I don't know what the heck I was thinking, except that I really wanted an opportunity to wipe that smirk off his face with my fist. Two days with Ranger and the guys in the gym and suddenly I think I'm Spiderman. I stuck my Cat boot inside one of the holes in the fence, gripped a section of metal above me, and started to climb. If I had any sense, I would have noticed that the old fence hadn't been properly installed. The chain link was moving too much and the top of it looked sharper the closer I came to it. Shit.

Dusty had taken off as soon as I got a foot off the ground. I was hoping Lula had Derek under control, because I wouldn't be any help to her now. After what felt like an hour, I was about to swing my leg over the top of the thing - while in the process of mentally patting myself on the back for hauling my ass up an eight-foot fence - when my foot got caught on something and I ended up falling back the way I came. I managed to break my fall with the upper part of my right arm, which I knew would not look pretty when I had a chance to look at it. I was left suspended by the fabric of my Rangeman windbreaker and I was praying it held until Lula could help me down. I was just about to shout her name, since I didn't hear any yelling or swearing close by, when my jacket tore. Guess I shouldn't have eaten some of Lula's chicken before coming here. Those extra ounces of hydrogenated fat were probably too much for my jacket to hold up. Ranger ordered the highest quality materials for our uniforms, but nylon wasn't meant to support a hundred and something pound woman six feet off the ground.

"_Ouch_," was the only thing I could think to say when I landed.

There was a distinct _"oh fuck!" _coming from the house and then Lula was standing over me.

"I ain't no doctor," she said, staring at my ripped-open sleeve,"but your arm don't look so good."

It was then that the burning sensation suddenly registered in my brain.

"How does it look?" I asked.

"Bloody."

That wasn't what I wanted to hear.

"It can't be too serious," I told her, slowly standing up and purposely keeping my eyes off of my injury."The pain isn't too horrible yet."

"It will be tomorrow," she said."And your ears will be sore, too, once Ranger hears about this."

"He doesn't have to hear about it until_ after _Dusty is locked up," I said to her.

"You're not serious? You ain't going after him now, are you? You've already wrecked your jacket, your jeans, and I'd say your arm, too. Did you channel a monkey or something and then climb that poor excuse for a fence?"

"Yes, but I was actually thinking more along the lines of Spiderman. And I _am_ going to find Dusty. I'm mad now and he's going to pay for it. I know you came out of the house, but I don't see Derek. What did you do to him?"

"He was being disrespectful, so I cuffed his ass."

"Lula, you can't just handcuff someone because they're annoying."

"And if I say he was tryin' to keep me from goin' after you?"

That's the excuse I was going to give the police if they eventually got called.

I slid my left arm out of my torn jacket and eased it off my body."Where exactly is Derek cuffed?" I asked Lula, wanting to know how much trouble I might be in.

"I got him attached to the fridge," she said, smiling.

"If I wasn't focused on catching Dusty, I'd be letting you have it for restraining someone we have no authorization to hold."

"He was actin' like a uncivilized douchebag. I don't think anyone would blame me for hittin' him upside his head and stickin' him to his refrigerator."

"You didn't say anything about assaulting him," I said to her.

"You're right, I didn't," Lula said."Remember that in case someone in a uniform decides to ask."

"Sure," I told her.

I crouched down to grab my bag where it had fallen when I landed on my ass, and then searched for my gun which had gone missing during the fall. I couldn't afford to replace that, too. Luckily, it was not far from the fence. With my right arm tucked close to my body, I stuck my gun into the back of my jeans. I knew I wouldn't be a good shot with my left hand but, if I needed to, I thought I could scare Dusty enough for Lula to get my cuffs on him. If she couldn't, I was just going to shoot Dusty and have one of the guys bury him.

"You're not seriously thinkin' about hunting down Dusty now, are you?"

"Yes," I told her."We're going to let Derek go and then check the neighborhood for Dusty," I told her."He couldn't have gone far."

"Steph," Lula said, looking at the steady stream of blood dripping down my arm,"I don't think that's a good idea. Maybe you should call Ranger."

"No," I said to her, trying to tie my windbreaker around my arm to slow the blood. The pain was minimal so far and I was concentrating only on nabbing Webber."I'm going to catch this asshole if it kills me. I don't need Ranger to do it for me."

I didn't commit to working with Ranger and the guys only to have to call them the first time I went out after someone with the knowledge I now have.

"It might kill you if you're not careful," Lula told me."You really want to be buried in that dress instead of walkin' down the aisle in it?"

"Dusty isn't going to kill me, Lula," I said to her."And I'm not going to die from a cut on my arm."

"Unless you get one of them staph infections I've heard about," Lula said to me."And what if your arm turns green and falls off? Who'll be my partner then? Give me your phone."

"Why?" I asked her.

"Because I don't want Ranger to blame me for lettin' you go after this moron. If you won't call him, then I will."

"Be my guest," I told her."While you're on the phone, I'm going to get Dusty."

"I can multi-task," she said, taking my cell from me.

"Yo, Batman," Lula said into the phone."Our Wonder Woman here is making me wonder what the heck is going through her head right now." She paused to listen to Ranger."We're at Derek Webber's house in Ewing. Oh, and she's bleeding. I need reinforcements to keep her skinny ass all in one piece."

"Lula!" I yelled over my shoulder at her."Don't tell him that."

I stopped walking and turned back to her, more afraid that a SWAT team would be arriving any second then I was of either Webber.

"Give me the phone. I'm_ fine_," I told Ranger, as soon as I got my cell out of Lula's hand.

"Are you really bleeding?" He asked, making me glare at Lula.

It really wasn't nice of her to make Ranger worry unnecessarily.

"It's just a scratch on my arm," I said to him.

"Don't listen to her," Lula said, invading my personal space to shout into the phone."She's got her jacket wrapped around it. And those Rangeman jackets aren't all that absorbent."

I looked down at my arm. Lula was right, the jacket wasn't doing anything.

"Babe, tell me the truth. How bad is it?"

I sighed. I couldn't resist that tone."I don't really know," I told him.

"Describe it to me so I know how serious it is."

"I can't, because I don't want to look at it."

"If _you're_ being squeamish, then it has to be bad," Ranger said, his voice gentle."Tank and I are now ten minutes away. Go back to your car and wait for us." He paused."Unless you'll let me call an ambulance."

"No," I said."No, ambulance. I definitely know it isn't bad enough to warrant an EMT."

"Wait for me at your car. We'll be there soon."

"Ranger ..."

He already knew what I was going to say.

"I would tell any of the men the same thing, Steph," Ranger told me."I don't want anyone who works for me going after a FTA when they aren't a hundred percent if there is a way to avoid it."

"Technically, today I'm working for _Vinnie_."

"Babe."

"Okay, I'm going, but if I don't get Dusty today, I'm not going to be happy."

"_I_ won't be happy if something else happens to you. And you will get your skip today," Ranger said, and hung up.

"What'd he say?" Lula asked.

"Thanks to your tattling, he's on his way. He didn't ask for the address, so I'm guessing he's been in touch with the control room."

"I wish_ I _had a control room to boss around."

"Ranger doesn't boss them around," I said to her.

She gave me a _you've got to be kidding me? _look.

"So he bosses them around _a little_, but that's his job. He_ is _the_ boss_. If I didn't know he was going to be on the road today, I'd swear Ranger was following me."

"I wish I had that man watchin' my ass," Lula said, as we both started back to Derek Webber's house."And I mean that in every way possible."

"I figured you did."

And Lula wasn't even aware that when Ranger's eyes were on your ass, it can actually feel like his hands were there, too. That's something I was happy to keep to myself, though.

Lula wasn't joking about cuffing Derek. She had threaded the handcuffs through the door handle of the fridge. I was really curious to see if he'd be able to get a beer out of it chained up like that.

"Let me guess," I said to Derek,"you and Dusty made up?"

He shrugged."He was real interested in giving back what he owed me once he found out I was talking to you."

"And_ how _exactly did he find that out?" I asked.

"I told him," Derek said.

"You know what I'm thinkin', Steph?"

"What?"

"I think we should leave him cuffed," Lula said."Ranger's gonna be good and pissed when he gets here and has a look at you. Dickbag Derek might be willin' to give up his cousin again as soon as Ranger gets in his face."

Lula might be onto something. Derek did seem paler after hearing that.

"_Ranger Manoso_?" He asked.

"You bet your ass Ranger Manoso," Lula said to him."You just screwed over his future wife."

He glanced at my left hand, then swallowed.

There was a car door slam out front, and two seconds later the kitchen became a whole lot smaller as Ranger and Tank invaded it. After a quick flick of his eyes over Derek, probably x-raying him for weapons, Ranger was beside me removing the jacket from my arm.

"Why is he cuffed to the fridge?" Tank asked us.

I flinched as Ranger touched a particularly sore spot."He made Lula angry," I told Tank to take my mind off of what Ranger was doing.

"That brings back some memories," Tank said, I think to himself.

I was praying like hell that he was referring to Lula's_ temper _and not to being handcuffed by her at some point. Lula naked was bad enough, but thoughts of both Lula _and Tank, _naked _together, _are therapy-inducing.

"What do you mean by that?" Lula asked him, eyes narrowed into angry slits."You best not be talkin' about ..."

"Lula, don't you dare say another word," I told her."I've been injured enough for one day."

"Fine, have it your way," she said to me."But he better remember that he chose a whole other type of pussy over me so he don't get to bring up none of the fun stuff we did together."

Tank didn't say anything, but his lips were dangerously close to a smile, which only made me shudder more. And I thought Tank was really lucky that Lula had already turned her back to him.

"How did this happen?" Ranger asked, thankfully bringing my attention back to him.

His eyes cut to Derek, who was at the moment trying to make himself as inconspicuous as a guy could when he was attached to an appliance. I knew Ranger's glance was actually a question. He was asking if Derek was responsible for the current state of my arm.

"It wasn't his fault," I told Ranger,"except that he told me where to grab Dusty but didn't bother to inform me that Dusty wasn't going to show up after the two of them made nice. But my arm is the result of the fence out back."

"You climbed it?" Ranger asked.

"Yep. All eight feet of it," I told him, feeling proud of myself.

"Good for you, Steph," Tank said.

"It wasn't too good. I ended up taking the short way down the wrong side of it."

"You felt like you could do it, Steph," Ranger said,"and that's a step in the right direction."

"Well, I think she took a big step back when she insisted on still going after that dirtball," Lula said."If I hadn't called you, I'd be following her bony butt through this shitty neighborhood, having to poke my head into God knows what, and we'd be gettin' our stupid selves chased by angry residents."

"I never thought I'd say this, Babe, but I agree partly with Lula," Ranger told me."You should have called me yourself."

"Hey! What is this? Dump on Lula day?" She asked.

I rolled my eyes at her and turned back to Ranger."So Doc, am I all right?" I asked him.

"Can I be next?" Lula said."I wouldn't mind playin' doctor with him."

Ranger ignored her and Tank and I followed suit. It's best not to encourage Lula when she gets going.

"You have a chunk of skin torn out of your arm and a few deep scratches."

"A_ chunk_?" I asked."How big of a chunk?"

"Big enough that a few stitches would help it heal faster and cleaner," Ranger told me.

"Shit, that means a scar doesn't it?"

Lula knew what was running through my mind."You'd better get those stitches," she said to me."You just found your dress, you don't want some nasty scar stealin' the show."

"Dress?" Ranger asked."You went shopping? I thought you were working today."

"I was," I said to Ranger."Derek told me that Dusty would be home this morning. After Lula and I figured he was a no-show, we decided to pay Derek a visit. On the way, I saw a wedding dress I liked in a store window."

"And wait until you see her in it," Lula told him."She could pass for one of them models in a bride magazine."

"I don't doubt it," Ranger said, his eyes lingering on my face before he spoke again."You had a full day."

"And I'm still skip-less," I said to Ranger."Is it possible to get Dusty and then deal with my arm?"

"No."

I blew out a sigh. How did I know he was going to say that?

"But you will get your capture receipt today," Ranger said, looking past me to Tank and the still chained Derek."You and Lula go back to the car while Tank and I find out where Dusty is."

Lula snorted before smiling at Derek."Told you Ranger was gonna mess you up. Nobody fucks with Stephanie on his watch."

"Ranger isn't going to_ mess _anyone up," I told her."Right, Ranger?"

Ranger's eyes went cold as he looked at Derek."Not if he tells me where Dusty is right now?"

"I don't know where he is," Derek said."He left when they showed up."

Not to be left out, Tank moved in closer and stared down at Derek. Tank stared down at_ everyone_. There isn't many people in Trenton taller than him.

"That isn't the answer you want to give him," Tank told Derek, nodding in Ranger's direction."He's capable of killing me with his bare hands. Imagine what he could do to a little guy like you."

"Jeez," I said, feeling nervous for Derek now.

Ranger looked over at me, his mouth tipped up on one side."Babe."

"I know. I know. Wait outside." I said, and headed to the door with Lula.

Ranger's F-150 truck was parked in front of my Cayenne. I beeped the Porsche unlocked, and Lula and I leaned against it while we waited for Ranger and Tank. It took less than four minutes from the time we left the house to the time they walked out of it, and I was pretty sure that some of it was used to free Derek from the fridge.

"Do we need to call an ambulance for him?" I asked Ranger.

"Are you implying that I have to use force to get answers out of someone?" He asked me.

"No, but Tank is an action-oriented kind of guy."

"I hear that," Lula said.

"Don't take this the wrong way, guys, but can you and Tank go back to not speaking to each other? You're grossing me out."

"We're gonna need to be gettin' along," Lula said."Tank will no doubt be Ranger's best man, and I know I'm gonna be your Maid of Honor. That's a real big responsibility, so we can't be fightin' until after your weddin'. But if he shows up reeking of cats, I take all of that back."

I wasn't going to waste time talking about a wedding when we still have a skip to pick up.

"Do we know where Dusty is?" I asked Ranger.

"He's got a friend that lives two streets over," Ranger said to us."He told his cousin that he'd be there if he had to run. Tank is going to take Lula and my truck and go pick him up while I drive you to St. Francis in your car."

"Sure," I told Ranger,"but I'm not taking the capture money if I'm not the one doing the capturing."

"Lula will get her share of it," Tank said to me."You'll get the rest. You found both Webbers, and because of that we know where to grab Dusty."

"I think the tag team intimidating you and Ranger just did got the lead on Dusty. Not me."

"It's already settled, Babe. Let's get you taken care of now."

He took out the First-Aid kit from the backseat of his truck and cleaned me up as much as he could before securing a bandage over the worst of the damage.

I glanced at Lula while Ranger was working on me."You're right, he does boss people around."

Lula's eyes shot to Ranger, and he leveled a look at her.

"That's for calling him when I told you not to," I said to Lula.

"I didn't mean it like she made it sound," Lula told Ranger.

I let her sweat for a minute before I relented and finally smiled at her.

"It okay, Lula. Ranger knows he's opinionated."

"I'm not _opinionated_, Steph. I'm _right_."

"And incredibly humble, too," I told him, and kissed his cheek.

"I have no reason to be," Ranger said."Now get in the car."

I watched Tank load Lula up into Ranger's truck before I did what Ranger told me to do. The F-150 is much higher off the ground than my Cayenne so Tank just picked Lula up and stuck her inside the cab. I really hoped he had plenty of cat hair on him today. I wouldn't survive another round of a Lula and Tank romance.

When they took off down the street I turned to Ranger.

"You're lucky authoritative works for you, or I'd be leaving with Tank and Lula."

"I'm not_ lucky_, Steph. You just know that I'm always acting in your best interest no matter how I sound."

"That's what I said," I told Ranger, and got into the Cayenne.

"Tell me about this dress you found," Ranger said, as he drove us to the hospital.

"Are you trying to distract me so I won't start begging you to take me to Rangeman instead of St. Francis?"

"Yes, but it doesn't matter how much you beg me, Babe, you're still getting checked out. When was your last tetanus shot?"

"I don't remember, but it couldn't have been that long ago. And I don't want a shot," I said to him."They're already going to be shoving a needle repeatedly through my skin, I shouldn't have to get a shot, too."

"There's a chance you won't need one," Ranger told me."You've been to the ER so many times, you're most likely up-to-date. Now tell me about the dress. How hard is it going to be to get you out of it?"

And with just that question, Ranger had effectively taken my mind off of a potential needle prick.

"It won't be all that difficult," I told him."It only has a small row of buttons down the back, but the skirt is a little snug-fitting."

"I can work with that," Ranger said, taking his eyes off the road long enough to flash me a full-on smile.

"That's all the information you're getting out of me. I may not be traditional, but I'm going to make you wait to see it. As cheesy as it may sound, the second I spotted it, I knew I'd be wearing it when I married you."

"You could get married _naked_, Babe, and it would be fine with me."

I laughed."I bet you'd even prefer it, but while you may be okay with it, a priest might have a few issues with that idea," I said, sliding my left hand up his thigh."And if I was naked, I wouldn't be able to show anyone our wedding photos."

"I'd make sure you didn't share them by keeping them with me at all times."

"You'd rather look at _pictures_ than have the real thing?"

"No," Ranger said, pulling into the lot near the ER entrance,"the pictures will be for the times when I _can't_ have the real thing. Which I promise you, Babe, won't be very often."

Great, now I was blushing and something way below my arm was starting to throb, too.

Ranger stowed our weapons and then escorted me into the building. After forty minutes, I walked back out with him feeling a lot better. Ranger had stayed with me, and held my hand, while I was stitched up and got the stupid tetanus booster they insisted I needed. Tank had called Ranger to say that he had Dusty in custody so I knew my dress would be coming home with me. I was told to take tomorrow off. And Ranger was in one of his _wants to take care of me _moods. So aside from leaving a piece of my arm over in Ewing, this has turned out to be a pretty good day.

Ranger opened the car door for me and, as I brushed against him on my way into the car, I couldn't help but think that tonight held a few possibilities, too.

**A/N: I tried to include the link for Stephanie's dress, but only a portion of it would show so if you're really interested in what it looks like you can google David Tutera #211268 to see a few images.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Bobby and Lester are back for this chapter. Out of all the guys that work at Rangeman, I always thought Stephanie would be, aside from Tank, the closest to the two of them. And this is the type of friendship I see them having. All familiar characters belong to Janet. The mistakes are mine.**

**Chapter 13**

"So tell us what happened," Lester said to me."These stories are always better when you're the one telling them."

"Go away," I told him.

"Not going to happen, Steph," Bobby said."We know you went to the ER yesterday. We gotta know what caused it."

"Why are you guys always in my cubby?" I asked them."It's hard not to feel claustrophobic in this little box, but it's worse with you two constantly sucking up the oxygen in here. Is Ranger not giving you enough to do? Because I can find you something if you want."

"Jesus, Steph, we're only trying to figure out what went wrong," Lester told me."We're concerned about you."

"And your concern is very touching, but I'm still not saying anything about it."

"Tank said he and Ranger worked over a snitch of yours," Bobby said."I bet that had something to do with your arm."

I blew out an exasperated breath, resigned to the fact that they weren't going to leave.

"Fine. I'll tell you, but you have to promise you won't laugh," I told them."It wasn't my finest moment."

"You should hear what happened to Bobby the first time he and I went on a capture together. It was a clusterfuck from the moment we took off after Peckerwood."

"Now see," I said,"_that_ sounds like a good story, not at all like mine. So what happened? Who's Peckerwood?"

"Nice try," Bobby said,"but we want to hear about you first."

"Tease," I said to Lester with a glare.

"You're the first person to call me that. I don't tease, Steph. I always follow through with what I promise."

"Much to the woman's dismay," Ranger said, suddenly standing in my doorway."I'm going to have to find you an office, won't I, Babe?"

"Yes, if you want me to actually work when I come down in the morning. And if you block the only exit, I'll never get them out of here."

"We'll leave when we know what went on yesterday. Ranger wouldn't let us tag along," Bobby said, sounding disgruntled about that.

"Just give me the word and they'll disappear," Ranger told me.

"No. After all the help they've given me when you've been busy, I guess I owe them at least one embarrassing story."

"There is nothing to be embarrassed about, Babe. You located and captured your guy. You did your job."

"_Tank_ and_ Lula _got Dusty. _I _was at St. Francis."

"Now we're getting somewhere," Lester said."And _why _were you at St. Francis?"

"I hurt my arm and Ranger made me go."

That was the truth and, to me, also enough of an explanation.

"That's not nearly enough info for me," Bobby said to me."What caused the injury? We know you got stitches."

"I was chasing a skip, climbed up a fence to try to catch him, and then fell back down it. That's the big secret. Are you happy now?"

"It was a tall fence, Babe. And you almost had the guy."

"It was close," I said to Ranger,"but the idiot just had to take off."

"Great job, Steph," Bobby told me."Your training is paying off."

"I don't know about that," I said."I did get hurt, the guy got away, and I had to go to the ER. It definitely wasn't a flawless capture. Plus Ranger and Tank had to beat the information out of Derek Webber. But I'm pretty sure I could have taken that little weasel, Dusty, if he had stayed on my side of the chainlink."

"I have no doubt that you would have subdued Dusty if he stayed close. You weren't in a good mood when Tank and I arrived. And we didn't beat the cousin, Babe."

"What did you do then?" I asked him.

"We asked Derek very nicely to spit out an address for Dusty."

Everyone in my cubby except Ranger laughed at that one. When Ranger wanted answers, he wasn't polite about getting them.

"Let me make an educated guess," Lester said to Ranger,"you went with a flashlight to the kneecap."

"It was still daylight, Santos, we didn't need flashlights."

"A well-placed punch to his kidney?" Bobby asked.

"It _is_ effective and takes less time than working out a bribe."

"Too bad Steph was injured," Lester said,"she could have done that finger thing on him. That hurt like a bitch."

"Shit. Why didn't I think of that?" I said out loud."I could have made you guys leave faster if I would've used that on the two of you."

"That hurts," Steph," Lester said.

"It's supposed to, Lester," I told Lester, smiling as I purposely misunderstood him."That's the whole point."

"You're getting a little bloodthirsty, aren't you, Babe?"

"No. I didn't make Lester bleed. I only made him squeal like a little girl."

"I didn't _squeal_," Lester said to me, looking offended.

"_Of course_, you didn't," I said, as I patted the hand closest to me reassuringly.

"Stephanie ..." Lester said, his voice losing some of its humor.

There it was. _Stephanie_. No nickname or abbreviation. They only_ introduced _me as Stephanie, they never used it themselves anymore. Someone was feeling threatened.

I was just about to soothe his ego when the phone in my bag rang. I happily dug it out. Lester's manhood could wait. If it had been Ranger's _'manhood' _I would have been all over it, figuratively_ and _literally._ Stop thinking dirty Ranger thoughts, Stephanie_, I said to myself, _and answer the phone_.

"Hey, Steph," Mary Lou said, when I hit the button.

I smiled."Hi, Mary Lou. How are you?"

"_Huge_."

"And with no signs of popping yet," I said.

I know she has almost two months to go so no one, except Mary Lou, wanted the baby to come right now.

Ranger and the guys had gone silent as we talked. I don't know why. I didn't think they'd be at all interested in our girl talk.

"No," she sighed.

I felt her pain even though I had no experience with it. I don't know how she stood being pregnant, never mind still taking care of her other kids while she was.

"I'm afraid this one's gonna come on your wedding day just to make me miss it."

"Your baby is more important than our wedding, Mary Lou. Don't stress out over it."

Which reminded me of something I wanted to ask Ranger about tonight. It might make Mary Lou relax a little, and probably also tick Lula off.

"Oh, I'm not. I'm watching you get married if I have to super glue my lady parts shut to keep this kid in."

"Eww, gross."

She laughed."I have to be there to see if hell really is going to freeze over, since that's when you told me you'd be getting married again. I didn't see that day on my calendar, so I don't know how you'll settle on a date."

"Hah-hah. Very funny. I just found my dress and Ranger can probably pull a perfectly tailored tux out of his closet." I cut my eyes to Ranger. He gave me a sexy grin and a slight nod. I took that to mean he had it covered."Yup, the tux is taken care of. As soon as we decide on where we want this wedding to take place, we'll have a date. But it should be before you go into labor."

"I don't suppose you want to wait until after this kid's out and I get my body back to get married?"

"I would say yes, but I don't really want a long engagement. And you'll look great in whatever you have on. Just like always."

"I had a feeling you'd say that. That's actually why I called."

"You mean you didn't call just to hear the sound of my voice?" I asked her.

"I don't think I'll want to hear the sound of your voice after I tell you this."

"What?" I asked, suddenly uneasy.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ranger, Bobby, and Lester straighten up, sensing impending danger.

"Umm …"

"Just say it, Mary Lou."

"Your mom called me."

"Fuck."

"Yeah, that's what I said, too."

"What did she want?"

"To throw you a bridal shower. She said that she wasn't going to be able to help plan the wedding so instead, she wants to do something else special for you."

"Sure she does. Special for _her_, maybe."

"But I told her that I was already planning one, so she didn't have to worry about it."

"Were you?"

"_No_. You threatened me with bodily harm if I even thought about it, but I figured by saying that I was, she'd be forced to leave it to me. It seemed to work, except now I'm in charge of planning a party for someone who doesn't want one."

I couldn't help but smile. I could handle this the way I wanted to. Margaritas at Chevy's sounded pretty damn good.

"I'll think about how to work this to my advantage and then get back to you," I told Mary Lou.

"Just don't wait too long," Mary Lou said."I can't avoid your mother forever."

"I suppose she's insisting on coming?"

"Yup."

I knew if I had a couple of margaritas in me, I wouldn't care at all that she's there.

"Okay," I told her."I'll call you tomorrow with some ideas, how's that?"

"Sounds good. If she calls again, I'm going to lie through my teeth about everything, though."

"Good plan. That's what got me through ages thirteen to thirty," I told her.

I hung up and turned back to Ranger and the guys. My conversation with Mary Lou must have been more entertaining than theirs, because all six eyes were on me.

"What was that about?" Ranger asked me.

"Since my mother has no power over me now, she decided to start harassing Mary Lou about throwing me a bridal shower."

"We already had one of those," Lester said."At Pino's."

"My mother won't consider that a proper shower," I told him."She wants the whole candied almonds, tiny sandwiches, and pointless games, type of shower."

"I don't know what the hell's wrong with you women," Lester said to me."Pizza, beer, and us sound like a way better time."

"You are," I told him."I've been to many of these and, aside from the food, they suck."

"So don't have one, Babe. Tell your mother that you're not interested in what she's offering."

"Mary Lou already told her that she's handling it," I said to Ranger."Mary Lou won't stand up to my mom, and I don't want to put her in the position of having to. Unfortunately, she lives in the Burg and is stuck putting up with the people living there."

"What are you going to do?" Bobby asked.

"I don't know," I said,"but my mother will be as uncomfortable as I can make her, and it's going to involve _a lot _of alcohol."

"Alcohol does help," Lester agreed.

"It also helps when my mother is consuming it. She can be fun if she has more than her usual tipple," I told him."She had a food fight with my Grandma Mazur once, but it was a horrible waste of Valerie's wedding cake if you ask me."

"I thought you tricked your sister and that Bozo guy at the last minute," Bobby said to me.

"It's Kloughn," I reminded him."K-l-o-u-g-h-n. And I did. The cake was from the wedding they chickened out on."

"Guess you've got bigger balls than your sister and Bozo," Lester said to me."You actually said yes to getting married and are, so far, going through with it."

"I definitely have bigger balls than _Kloughn_, but Valerie was only concerned about fitting into her dress since she was like twelve months pregnant at the time."

"It's physically impossible to be pregnant for twelve months, Babe."

"Not for a manatee," I said. That's just another useless fact I have to carry around in my head due to hours spent channel surfing. Though I think manatees are closer to thirteen months. Close enough."But it sure felt like she was pregnant for a year to everyone around her. Since we're sort of talking about dresses, I have to go pick up mine."

"You already have a dress?" Bobby asked."Shit. You don't waste any time, do you? I thought you were joking about it happening soon."

"Nope," I told him."Things are actually falling into place for us. Finally. As soon as we find a place we like, we're going to do this."

"And we all still get to come, right?" Lester asked.

"Yes. I'm going to make sure that the place is big enough to house you guys, and can also supply enough food to feed Tank, Hal, and Cal."

"Have you ever thought of getting married outdoors?" Ranger asked me.

"No. In our family, weddings are always in churches. I never thought about doing it someplace else. Except for maybe my parents' backyard, and that has lost its appeal. But why can't we do something different?"

And that got me thinking. Can we actually get married in a church? Ranger and I are both divorced_ and _were raised Catholic, so I'm betting there's some religious red-tape we'd have to go through to even have a church wedding, so maybe they were out of the question anyway.

"We can do _whatever_ you want, Babe," Ranger said, scanning my brain again."You just have to decide."

"Great. Now I have even _more _options."

Trenton only had a couple of churches to choose from, but there is _a lot _of outdoor space. And if I looked at places outside of Trenton, there's a bunch more.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Bobby asked me.

"For some people," I told him."But not me."

"And now that you can't do field work for the next week or so," Ranger told me,"you have a little extra time to search for a location."

"What about you?" I asked him."What part are_ you _going to help me with?"

"I'm going to make the final decision when you can't decide between two places you end up liking."

"That actually works for me. I'm going to finish up a couple of things here and then head back to the store."

"I bet you found a sexy dress," Lester said to me.

"Well ... Lula likes it. What does that tell you?"

"That it's tight and shows some cleavage," Bobby told me.

"That's surprisingly accurate."

"Thought so."

"I couldn't picture you in one of those giant, ruffly things," Lester said."Do we get to see it when you get back?"

"No," Ranger told him."Since when are you guys interested in wedding dresses?"

"We're only interested in _Stephanie's_," Bobby told Ranger.

"That's a nice thing to say," I told him."And also a little weird."

"What's weird about it?" Bobby asked."We may kid about it, but we were all hoping you guys would stop fighting each other and eventually get to this point. Now it's actually happening and we want to be part of it."

"Are you offering to be a flower girl?" I asked him.

"No f-ing way, Steph," Bobby said to me."You know I'd do anything for you, but not that."

I smiled at him before flicking my eyes to Lester.

"Don't even look in this direction," Lester told me."I'll give you away, _or not_, or stand up beside Ranger, but flowers will not enter the picture."

"I knew you guys would say something to that effect," I told them."Maybe on the day of the wedding, if I tell you that there is something suspicious hiding in the flowers, I can trick you into carrying them down the aisle for me.

"I'm leaving," Lester said,"before I end up a bridesmaid."

"Is that possible?" I asked."We have gotten a lot closer in recent months."

Busting their balls was fun. Now I know how Ranger amused himself before I came along.

"Not a chance."

"Bobby?"

"I'm leaving, too," Bobby said, shaking his head."There's no talking to you when you get like this."

"Like what?" I asked."You said you wanted to be part of the wedding. I'm only trying to accommodate you guys."

"Your mother is probably going to be relieved that she's not included, Babe, if you plan on terrorizing everyone," Ranger said after Bobby and Lester left, coming into my cubby and leaning against my desk.

"Maybe she will be, but she'd never admit it."

"I'm heading out," Ranger said,"do you need anyone with you today?"

"No. I'm not doing anything but picking up my dress and coming back here. I'm not going to risk ripping my arm open. I absolutely refuse to get stitches again. One time is plenty."

Ranger put a hand on my chair and wheeled me to him. He wrapped my ponytail in his hand and held my head while he kissed me. I don't know why he felt the need to hold me, the days of trying to avoid his lips were long gone. And I showed him that by curling my fingers into his gun belt - to make sure _he_ wasn't going anywhere - and enjoyed the fact that his mouth was on me again.

"Now we know why she was trying to get rid of us," I heard Lester say a minute or_ five _later.

"Yeah, she wanted a chance to take advantage of the boss," Bobby said back."Maybe he's the one that needs bodyguards."

Ranger took his time letting me go, but he_ did _pull back and I glared at Bobby and Lester because they were the cause of it.

"Don't give me that look," Bobby said to me."I have orders from Tank to send Ranger downstairs."

"He was too big of a coward to try to separate your lips himself," Lester told us.

"I'll be sure to mention to Tank that you said that," Ranger said to Lester."You know how much he appreciates office gossip."

"Shit. I think being a flower girl is preferable to a one-on-one with Tank."

"Look, Babe. You have even more decisions."

"Gee, thanks, but as much as I like thinking up ways of torturing Lester, I don't really need a flower boy."

Ranger smiled, kissed me again - only a quick one this time - and stood.

"Call me when you get back," Ranger told me.

"Sure," I said, and studied Ranger's ass like it was a suspect in a police lineup as he walked out.

I sighed when he disappeared around the corner, much to Lester and Bobby's amusement. Ranger really had to find them something to do in between takedowns so they'd quit bugging me.

Bobby reached over and brushed his thumb along the corner of my mouth.

"You had a little drool leaking out right there." He laughed as I smacked his hand away.

"Liar," I said, though it_ was _possible I'd been drooling.

I've seen Ranger's backside, both in clothes and out of them, and it _should _inspire a little drool, if not a truckload of it.

"I used to think that Ranger was the one always after you," Bobby said,"but I'm getting the distinct impression that it was the other way around."

I suppose in a sense that was true. I did hide out in Ranger's apartment every chance I got, called him for backup probably more than I should have, and kissed him back every time I was alone with him. I was a crappy girlfriend to Morelli, but I made the perfect one for Ranger.

"If you guys are this bad now," Lester said,"I hate to see the honeymoon phase of your relationship. You'll kill each other."

"Jealous much?" I asked, in an annoyingly sweet tone."And weren't you guys on your way out, too? Unless you prefer to stay and do some searches for me. Ranger told me not come to work today, but I didn't listen and now my arm is starting to hurt. It would be really nice of you to take over my workload so I can make it to the store and back before I have to take more pain pills."

I refuse to take any pain reliever stronger than aspirin, and I was getting used to the steady pounding of my arm, so I was laying it on awful thick, but the fake whining could get me an extra set of typing fingers.

"You're exaggerating to try to make us feel sorry for you," Lester said.

"Is it working?" I asked them.

"No," Bobby said."And that's our cue to leave."

"I remember someone not that long ago not only refusing to help me," Lester told me, trying to generate some sympathy of his own,"but also ratting me out to the bosses."

"And_ I _happen to remember helping both of you out countless times before that," I said them.

"I guess we're even then," Bobby said."Are you up for Shorty's next week? You can invite your grandmother if you want. She's almost as much fun as you are."

"She'll be happy to hear that. I'll check with Ranger and if he doesn't have plans, we'll be there. Or at least_ I'll _be there."

"Trust me, Steph, if _you're_ going," Lester said to me,"_Ranger's_ going."

"We_ are _capable of doing things separately," I told him.

"But that's the best part of watching the two of you," Bobby said."You actually want to spend your free time with each other."

"Isn't that the idea?" I asked him."To like hanging out with the person you're going to marry?"

"Yeah, I'm assuming that's how it starts out," Lester said."But usually you end up resenting the person after a while. That's what happened with my folks. They finally put us all out of our misery and split up when I was ten."

"Oh, poor Little Lester," I said, being completely sincere.

That would explain the no-relationship policy that put Ranger's old one to shame.

"Steph, there is _nothing_ little about me," Lester said."And it's water under the bridge. We're all cool now so you don't have to feel sorry for me."

"I don't. I just think it's a sucky thing for a child to have to go through."

"Unfortunately," Bobby added,"a lot of kids have to go through it. A few people I know who were in bad relationships did, too. But you and Ranger seem to get closer, and like each other more, the longer you're together."

"You_ almost _make me believe it's possible to settle on only one person."

"Almost?" I said to him.

"Yeah. I'm not ready to give up the variety yet. Unless you're thinking of ditching Ranger. If you can get him relationship-trained, I bet you can do the same for me."

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that," I told Lester.

"And Lester thanks you for it," Bobby said."I'm gonna get him out of here before Ranger comes back and kicks his ass again."

"I promise to learn my lesson someday," Lester said to us.

"Somehow I doubt it," I told him."Now go and let me get back to work."

"You actually want to work?" Bobby asked.

"No. I want to _leave_, but I made a stink about being fine and able to work today. Now I have to get most of my stuff done before I can take off or Ranger will say I told you so. And I hate when he gets to do that."

"Fine. We'll go. But seriously, Steph, if you don't feel well, don't stay here out of stubbornness," Bobby said to me."You have to take good care of yourself. That's also part of being good at your job. Knowing how much your body can physically take is as much a safety precaution as your gun."

"I get what you're saying, and I promise not to push myself. And be careful out there," I told them."Don't underestimate who you're going after."

"We won't, Steph. Don't worry."

"It's one of the things I'm great at."

"You're good at many things, Steph," Lester said."And we'll help you with the rest."

"Thanks, Lester. I'm going to hold you to that. You guys are annoying as hell, but you know that I love you all, right?"

"Yes," Bobby said to me.

"And that's a ditto from everyone here," Lester said.

I got a 'ditto'. Really, what more do I need?

I clocked in another hour before I shut everything down and pushed back from my desk. I waved goodbye to Manuel and Woody at the monitors when their eyes flicked to me briefly as I emerged from my cubby.

"I'll be back in an hour," I told them.

They nodded and went back to the screens. I was hoping that was enough to keep them from wasting time tracking me. Sometimes the guys took it upon themselves to keep tabs on me without Ranger even speaking to them. But every time I got irritated with them, I think back to the time I was kidnapped by Petiak and the terror I'd felt when I realized that Ranger and the guys had no clue where I was. I'd take a bug over a blowtorch any day.

I drove the same route I took to get to Derek Webber's house and pulled up to the little shop where my dress was waiting for me.

"Hi," Katie said as I walked in."You made it back."

"Yeah. I wasn't willing to risk someone breaking into the store and stealing it."

She laughed."I don't think that will happen."

"If you knew me," I told her,"you'd know that it is possible."

"I think I'll stop envying you then," she told me."I don't want, or need, that kind of luck."

I must have looked puzzled at her envying me for _any_ reason - she hasn't even seen Ranger - but she was nice enough to explain it to me.

"You're getting married. You look absolutely beautiful in this dress, and that ring is _amazing_. That alone would make anyone jealous, but you seem to be really happy to be marrying the guy you're engaged to. You would be surprised at how many people I see who come in here and talk about agreeing to get married only for the status, or money, it'll provide them."

"I know a woman exactly like that. And I use the word _woman_ loosely," I told Katie, thinking about Joyce's marriage merry-go-round."A year ago you couldn't have convinced me to get married again, but my guy is very persuasive."

"He sounds perfect."

"He definitely is that ... _and more_."

She sighed. I completely understood. Not everyone gets to have a Ranger in their lives.

She boxed my dress up, explaining that the dress could be safely stored in it after the wedding. She also supplied a clothing bag so I could hang it up when I got back to the apartment. Lula had been right, this _is_ a fancy store. No detail was overlooked. I paid for it without hyperventilating _too_ much and walked back to my car. This is actually happening, I said to myself. I'm getting married soon. Who knew I'd ever be this excited about attending a wedding? Especially if it happened to be my own. I put the stuff in the backseat of my car and slid behind the wheel.

I was driving on Olden when I happened to see a guy coming out of the store attached to a gas station on my left. He looked to be in his late twenties or very early thirties, wearing baggy jeans and a T-shirt with the faded image of a band that had been popular ten years ago. That in itself wouldn't have normally raised any red flags, except for his taste in music, but the fact that he was in one hell of a hurry made my trouble detector take notice. And seeing the sunlight reflecting off of a nasty looking gun that was hanging loosely at his side helped to reinforce my gut instinct. I didn't know if he had used it inside the building, but I was willing to tail him at a safe distance in case he had. I pressed the button that would connect me to the control room.

"Rangeman. Woody speaking."

"Woody ..."

"Steph? What happened?"

"Jeez, you could at least give me a second to speak before jumping to the conclusion that something has happened."

"That was more than a second," Woody said,"so you can tell me what's wrong now."

"Has there been anything called in on Olden?"

"No. Why?"

"I just saw a man leaving the mobile station and he looked like he was in fact leaving the scene of a crime. And while the gun in his hand wasn't smoking, it looked like he wasn't against using it."

I gave Woody the plate number and listened while he talked to Manuel. Good. The police can handle this. All I had to do was keep an eye on the black Escort in front of me.

Woody got back on the line."Okay, the TPD have been notified. Where are you?"

"About three cars behind him," I told Woody.

"Steph ..."

But whatever Woody was going to say was cut off when I heard someone speaking to him in the background.

He didn't leave me hanging.

"The owner of the store was just found shot in his office," Woody told me.

"Damn," I said."I was hoping I was wrong."

"You're seldom wrong, Steph. And Ranger's not gonna want you to get involved in this."

"I'm not going to approach the guy," I told Woody."I'll just keep an eye on his vehicle until the police get him. I'll be careful." And I hung up.

No doubt I'll pay for that later. Woody was scheduled for one of my training sessions - a kickboxing lesson, I think - when I get cleared to resume them. I did do forty minutes on the treadmill this morning, but I refused to run. What good is having an injury if you couldn't use it to get out of doing something you despise? Everything else has been interesting, if not fun, but I still hated running.

The Trenton PD was on the ball today. In under ten minutes, they had shown up, pulled the Escort over, and had the suspect cuffed. It's probably a record for them.

I pulled over behind the last squad car when I spotted Eddie Gazarra in the mix.

"Hey, Eddie." I said, interrupting his conversation with an officer I hadn't seen before.

"How did I know I'd see you here?" Eddie said to me when officer no-name left.

"I saw the guy leaving the station and he seemed fishy."

"He should. The guy he shot was executed. The man was found face down with a bullet to the back of his head."

"Ouch," I said.

"I doubt he felt anything," Eddie told me.

"Do we have a motive?"

He laughed."_We_?"

I blew out an impatient sigh."Okay, do _you_ have a motive?"

"Looks like a drug deal gone bad."

I shook my head at how senseless this death was. I'd much rather have no _money_ than no _life_. But I knew this wouldn't be the last murder committed because of greed.

I told Eddie what I saw and headed back to my car. I wasn't surprised to see Joe park behind me. Not only does he get most of the homicide cases, I'm sure my name had been mentioned in connection with this one.

I hadn't bothered with a jacket today. First off, because it rubbed against the bandage, and also today was a good ten degrees warmer than yesterday. Jersey might actually get a summer after all, which would be extremely helpful if we decided to get married outside.

The first thing Joe asked about was my arm. The dead guy took a backseat to me, I guess.

"What happened to you now?" Joe said when he reached me.

"A fence decided to attack me when I was chasing a skip," I told Joe.

I wasn't repeating the story again.

"Stitches?"

"Yeah. Occupational hazard."

"I bet."

He took a walk around my Cayenne Turbo, checking out the rims and whatever else guys look at when they first meet a car they could potentially be in love with.

I stiffened when I saw his eyes stop on the back window of the car.

"What's in the box?" He asked me.

He wasn't snooping. The freakin' box was hard to miss it. The store had ivory-colored boxes and Katie made sure to add extra ribbon to the outside, to make it look prettier, I guess. It was a nice idea even if it was going to cause me a few uncomfortable moments now.

"A dress," I said to him.

It was the truth after all.

"Anything like the little black one you wore that night you called me just so I could take it off of you?"

"_No_. And you're not allowed to think about that anymore."

He grinned at me."Like you don't picture me naked from time-to-time."

"No, Joe. I don't," I said, completely serious."We're_ friends_, I think. And that's it. And for your information, I don't picture Tank, Lester, or Bobby - who are also my friends - naked, either. "

"Way to get my mind off of sex, Cupcake."

"I'll use what I can."

"Why are you acting so mysterious about the dress? Is Manoso taking you to a Bail Bonds Ball or something? If I didn't know better, I'd swear he's rubbing off on you."

"He is," I said to Joe,"but the box isn't part of that."

"So ...?"

"You really want to know?" I asked him.

"Yeah, now I do," Morelli told me.

And I suddenly remembered exactly why we could never live together longer than a couple of days. He always had to keep pushing me. Not physically, but verbally until I wanted to smack him for doing it or myself for putting up with it.

"Okay, it's my wedding dress. You couldn't just leave it alone, could you?"

"I wish to hell I had," he said, his mouth no longer grinning.

"Joe, you know I'm marrying Ranger."

"On some level I did, but I honestly thought one of you would have backed out by now."

"Nope," I told him. Seeing as how Ranger was suggesting places to have our wedding, I felt confident answering for both of us."We're in this together."

"So it really was _me_ you didn't want to marry, wasn't it?"

"It's not like that. We weren't good for each other, Joe, even though we loved each other."

"Do you still love me?" Joe asked, staring right into my eyes.

I didn't hesitate with my answer."Not in that way, Joe. Not anymore. And probably not ever in the way you wanted me to."

"Jeez, Steph, don't hold back."

"It's better for you if I don't," I told him."I am marrying Ranger."

"I know."

"And I want you to find someone to make you as happy as Ranger makes me."

"What if she's set on marrying someone else?"

"Joe ..."

"I understand, Cupcake. I'm not going to cause any trouble. But do me a favor ..."

"What?" I asked him.

"Don't send me a wedding invitation," Joe said to me.

I smiled at his attempt at minimizing his feelings. The least I can do for him is play along.

"Who said you were going to get one?"

"I know you, Steph. And you would have sent one and pissed Ranger off when he found out you did."

"Ranger would be okay with it," I told him.

I was ninety percent sure I was right about that. As long as Joe wasn't doing anything to me, Ranger was okay with Morelli sharing the same planet as us.

"He wouldn't be upset that I was there?" Morelli asked.

"Nope."

I was up to ninety five percent certain now.

"Asshole," Joe said under his breath.

"Morelli ..."

"What? He could at least have the decency to be jealous."

"He doesn't have a reason to be."

"And you're saying I did?"

"Yeah, but I didn't know it back then."

"Too bad _I_ knew," Joe said."That's why I was always such a dick when his name was brought up."

"That was a long time ago, Joe."

"It sure seems like it. And I can't change things now, can I?"

"No."

"So I guess all that's left to do is hope that you'll be happy with him."

"I will."

"But I meant what I said, if he _ever_ hurts you, I will hunt him down if it's the last thing I do."

I was thinking that if he threatened Ranger, it may very well be the last thing he did.

"You can find a new hobby, Joe, besides threatening Ranger," I said."He hasn't done, and will never do, anything to hurt me. I know it's hard to believe, but Ranger really does love me."

"Cupcake, it's not hard to believe at all," Joe said softly."Falling in love with you happens to the best of us."

"Damn it, Joe. Can't you just pick a personality and stick with it? Either be kind or be a jerk. This back and forth thing is hard to keep up with."

"I can be kind?" He said."No one has ever called me that before."

"You do have your moments," I said."So don't ruin this one by turning into an ass again."

"I won't, Steph. I do want to be friends if that's all you're offering for now."

From the wrinkling at the corners of his eyes, I knew he was kidding. At least I_ hope _he was kidding. He said he was letting me go and I really wanted to believe he had.

"_Forever_, Morelli," I told him, but there was no heat in my words, just fact.

He continued like I hadn't interrupted."Friends is still better than nothing at all."

Ranger chose that moment to drive up.

"Calvary's here," Joe said, looking past me to Ranger's truck.

Ranger came over and slipped an arm around me."You just can't stay out of trouble, can you?"

"I wasn't part of the trouble," I told him, letting myself rest against his body,"I just witnessed it. Did Woody tattle on me?"

"That's what I pay him for, Babe."

"And you seriously want to marry him?" Joe asked, watching the two of us.

"I make up for the surveillance in other ways, Morelli," Ranger said to him.

"Spare me the details," Joe said."I'm going to go to work now."

"It should be an easy day for you," Ranger told him."You have a body and Stephanie caught your guy for you."

"Your welcome," I said to Joe.

"I wasn't going to say thank you, Cupcake. I don't want you around dangerous people like these two guys."

"Joe,dangerouspeople are everywhere now. The best I can do is learn how to protect myself if I come into contact with them."

"If I remember correctly, that has never worked for you."

"I've made a lot of progress in that department," I told Morelli."And I did keep myself out of this. I didn't interfere, I only reported it and let you guys have all the glory."

"That_ did _surprise me," Joe said to me.

"I've changed, Joe. I'm not the same woman I was a year ago."

"I see that. And although I think you can do better than, Manoso," Joe said, causing Ranger to smile,"I do want the best for you."

"Well," I said,"I got him. No offense. You're a great guy and you'll find a person who'll appreciate you."

"I won't argue the fact that I already found her."

"Good," Ranger said,"because I don't want to have to kill a cop in front of half the police force."

Ranger could probably get away with, too.

"You'd better be good to her," Morelli told Ranger.

"Joe ..."

"Don't worry. I'm leaving," Joe said."You can save your threats to the boys, Cupcake."

"Happy to hear it," I told him.

The ass smiled at me before jogging over to Eddie.

"I voluntarily spent time with him why?" I said to Ranger.

"I've been asking myself that for years, Babe."

"What answer did you come up with?"

"That I wasn't available so you lowered your standards considerably."

"_You_ would say that," I told him.

"Are you disagreeing with me?" He asked.

I turned in his arms so I could see his face."Nope. And I'm happy that you became available."

"I won't be for long," he said."A very lucky woman said yes to my proposal."

"She_ is _lucky," I said."But so are_ you_."

"I am, Babe. And I'm glad that you finally understand that."

"It sometimes takes a while, but I do eventually figure out the important stuff."

Ranger bent his head and gave me a fast but still body-tingling kiss. I even forgot that Joe was still around until Ranger walked me back to my car. Joe smiled when I caught his eye, but it seemed forced and also a little sad.

As Ranger closed my door and returned to his truck, I thought back to my relationship with both of them, and I was sure that Joe will realize the same thing I did. If he was honest about what he really wants in life, he'll find the right person to share it with.

Luckily the cop car in front of me had already left so I could also leave. In my rearview mirror I saw that Ranger was waiting for me to pull out so he could follow me back to Rangeman. I smiled to myself. Ranger either wanted to make sure I got home safely or he was trying to keep any remaining trouble that might find me at bay. I loved him even more for probably wanting to do both. I know that Joe will be just as content as I am now, it just might take him a little longer to figure out what, and who, will make him that way.


End file.
